Section A (Reports)

A01. Standing Orders Committee

Introduction

Welcome to the Final Agenda for the Green Party’s Autumn Conference 2005.

An electronic version is available on request as an rtf file
(approx. 200kB) from the SOC Convenor, Dean Walton, email address
soc(at)greenparty.org.uk. Paper copies are available from Green Party
Office, 1a Waterlow Road, London, N19 5NJ, telephone 020-7272-4474.

SOC Members

The members of SOC are Dean Walton (current convenor), Robin Altwarg
& Chris Cotton (co-opted). If you would like to join put yourself
forward for SOC please feel free to chat to us at any time.

Content of the Final Agenda

There are various reports, 1 voting paper (Agriculture), 11 policy
motions, and 9 organisational motions; 1 motion was ruled out of order
and is included at the end of the Agenda.

Out of Order Motions

SOC ruled one motion out of order ‘”O1 Monetary Reform” on the
grounds that it breached the ‘2 year rule’. It is useful that the first
time the rule has been applied is when the proposed motion is only a
day or two short of the 2-year time limit. Some members have expressed
concern that SOC have in some way been ‘over-zealous’ or have gone
‘against the spirit of the 2 year rule’. In our defence SOC considered
the original motion and amendments that brought the 2-year rule into
the Standing Orders. It is our view that Conference quite clearly voted
for a 2-year time limit based on a calendar year.

SOC Proposed Revisions to Amendments

Amendments 7, 8 & 10 to the Section B Agriculture were
originally submitted as a single amendment. In view of the other
motions received for the same parts of the paper and that there seemed
to be no theme between the three sections of the original amendment SOC
has decided to propose that this Amendment be taken in parts and has
arranged the agenda as such.

Moratorium on Policy Motions not Amending MfSS

The Standing Orders for Conduct of Conference are contradictory on
the treatment of policy motions that do not amend the MfSS. SOC had
previously sought to rule these out of order and currently holds this
position. However SOC decided in agreement with Policy Committee to not
rule these motions out of order pending a clarification of the rules
via a Constitutional amendment to a future conference.

Errors in the Agenda

If you notice any errors in the final agenda please notify the convenor of SOC.

Prioritisation Ballot

The agenda has been prioritised according to the results of the
members’ ballot. 60 Ballots were received of which 59 were valid.

Email signatures

SOC does accept e-mail signatures. The procedure has been simplified
by SOC. To sign a motion by email please ensure you include your
membership number your local party and if you are the contact for a
motion or amendment your address and email address that members can
contact you on. Members of Wales Green Party should send the address
registered with the Wales membership secretary.

Please help SOC by only enclosing one motion or amendment in each
email and by not forwarding transcripts of the debates that have been
held by members prior to agreeing to a final version of the text– this
also reduces the possibility of error.

Executive Elections

There will be elections at Conference for Female Principal Speaker
and the following GPEX co-ordinators: International, Policy, Elections,
External Communications, Finance, Local Party Support &
Publications.
Further nominations are invited for these 9 posts so candidates for
these positions are not named until the end of the extended nomination
period.

The deadlines for receipt of new nominations are:
Before Conference, Thursday 1st September to Dean Walton, SOC Convenor, or myself.
At Conference, 12 noon on Saturday 10th September to SOC at the SOC table

Hustings will be on Saturday afternoon, 10th September.. The
counting for ALL positions will take place shortly after the postal
ballot deadline, which is Saturday 17th September.

If you have any queries, please ask Green Party central office for
contact details. Alternatively you can contact Dean Walton, the
SOC Convenor, on 07880-748259 or email soc(at)greenparty.org.uk

Committee Elections

Elections will also be held at Conference for these Committees:
Campaigns, Policy, Standing Orders, Disputes Resolution, Conferences,
Green World Editorial Board & International Committee. For
information on these elections please contact the SOC Convenor.

Emergency Motions

SOC would like to remind everyone that although Standing Orders are
suspended when an emergency motion is discussed, it is only Section A
that is suspended. This is the section that deals with the requirement
to submit motions by the First Agenda deadline.

The section of the standing orders that deals with reasons for SOC
ruling motions out of order is NOT suspended. This is Section C9 of the
standing orders, which states:

Motions or amendments to motions shall be ruled out of order on grounds of being:

contrary to the Constitution

retrospective in their effect

ambiguous

vague

trivial or requiring no consequential action

substantially
changing policy areas, or having complex implications for other areas,
without having passed through the agreed process of consultation or
seeks to amend the principles passed in a policy motion or Voting Paper
less than two years previously, or if it seeks to re-present a policy
proposal which has been debated and defeated at a Conference less than
two years previously except where it is proposed by Regional Council
and agreed by SOC that the specific exception to that requirement shall
be made in respect of an area of Party Policy for which urgent need to
update or clarify the policy outweighs the normal consideration of
procedure.

In addition, Section G1 of the Standing Orders states:

Emergency motions shall only be accepted provided

the issue has arisen, or has substantially changed, since the deadline for motions

the motion is consistent with the MfSS and neither changes nor adds to the text of the MfSS

No amendments to the Constitution or Standing Orders are permitted under this suspension.

Please bear these restrictions in mind when composing emergency motions.

It is SOC’s opinion that Emergency Motions should be limited to no more than 300 words.

Contacts for motions and amendments in this agenda.

The names of those signing motions are included after each motion,
up to a maximum of 4 names, although only 4 are required. Where there
are more than 4, then the first 4 are listed followed by “+ others”.
The principal contact for each motion is indicated by (**) after the
name and contact details can be found at end of the agenda before the
prioritisation ballot.

Contact details for amendments are typically the first person listed after the amendment.

SOC Rulings

Interpretation of PB443

SOC were asked to consider whether a change to A Regional Party’s
constitution introducing a ‘Leader’ and ‘Deputy Leader’ were contrary
to the Philosophical Basis and therefore contrary to the GPEW
Constitution. SOC considered this question and was unable to reach a
decision on this point. The issue at hand was whether or not PB443
applied to just the GPEW as a body in its own right or whether the
principle applied to Regional Parties, Local Parties and the like. SOC
will review this decision in light of the forthcoming Conference and
may need to bring a constitutional motion of its own to clarify the
situation if need be to a future Conference.

A02. Party Treasurer

The accounts for the year ended 31 December 2004 have now been filed
with the Electoral Commission. Copies will be available to members at
Conference.

The Balance Sheet at 31 December 2004 shows a deficit balance, with
liabilities exceeding assets. Whilst to a certain extent this situation
has been created by the Electoral Commission's insistence that we
include a creditor in the accounts for a proportion of deferred
membership income (as explained in last year's Treasurer¹s Report and
highlighted in this year's Finance Co-ordinator's Report - included as
part of the GPEx Report to this Conference), that shouldn¹t distract us
from the fact that the figures for 2004 show real cause for concern.

Even ignoring the deferring of the membership income for year end
accounting purposes, the Party has overspent it's general reserve and
has therefore had to fund its activities partially from the Greenquest
Reserve. There was a large loss for the 2004 accounting year, which is
made all the more worrying by the fact that this wasn't actually
planned. The budget the Executive was working to had predicted a
surplus for the year of almost £18,000. We cannot afford to make such a
miscalculation again, so future Executives will need to be working to
more cautiously realistic budgets - particularly regarding the income
expected to come in which is, by its very nature, more difficult to
predict and control.

Two particular areas need to be highlighted, in my opinion. These
are Green World and Publications and Trading. Each of these are similar
in that the expenditure budgets are expected to be offset to a large
extent by matched income from the sale of the materials produced, or in
the case of Green World from the sale of advertising space. Whilst
those responsible for these budgets did not actually exceed the
expenditure budgets they were set, the budgeted income simply did not
materialise resulting in large unforeseen deficits in both operations.
This is certainly an area which needs tightening up in terms of
internal controls and procedures. I have highlighted this point to the
Executive who have given assurances on these and other matters that
lessons have been learned from 2004 and that the mistakes of last year
will not be repeated.

A03. Party Executive

Chair

The Executive owes thanks and congratulations to the membership and
local parties for the great job that was done at the General Election.
To make such a massive effort so soon after the huge demands of the
European Election was a testimony to the commitment and resilience of
the activists, especially as the European result, whilst excellent by
the standards of other countries, was something of a disappointment to
many here. Our performance at the General Election produced not only
the largest ever vote but also earned us a new credibility in the
political sphere.

Despite the fact that most members were new to GPEX we decided the
election themes quickly and settled into the hard work which was
necessary to make things happen. Our energies were mostly directed to
fighting the general election, and at the same time making sure we did
not spend more money than we had. In the aftermath we have taken the
opportunity to review both the financial and organisational situation.
To a certain extent fighting such important elections two years in a
row has taken its toll on the administrative staff, who performed
better than ever before, but despite the limited resources available
and thanks to the high calibre of our volunteers and considerable input
from some GPEX members, Party office is functioning well and continuing
to provide media cover. However there are some procedures concerning
membership administration which are proving very time-consuming and
which must be reviewed.

Fundraising remains crucial. Thanks to some generous donations the
Party remains financially stable, but that has also meant taking some
hard decisions. However future donors will know their money won’t be
wasted.

As Chair of the Executive I have represented the Party at a large
number of events and campaigns, establishing links with the Muslim
community, the Trades Unions, and others including the Venezuelan
Embassy, networking and building contacts on behalf of the Party. As a
practising barrister I have used my professional skills to promote the
party and the causes we support, including an ongoing challenge to the
legality of the war. The reports from my colleagues follow.

Hugo Charlton

Elections Co-ordinators

I’d like to begin by thanking Geoff Forse for his handover, which
was both helpful and encouraging, and to thank him for his 5 years of
hard work in the role. Any credit for my work during the year must
largely be passed onto Chris Rose, without whom, any Election
Co-ordinator would not be able to function. He has, once again, done an
outstanding job with limited time, support and resources available to
him.

2004/05 has been a tough year for the Green Party. We had
fought very hard to keep our two Euro seats in 2004 and make more
council seat gains. The party was exhausted financially by this effort.
GPEx inherited a financial deficit that had to be addressed. Relatively
fixed costs, in terms of keeping membership and internal delivery on
track, meant that it was the Elections budget that largely had to bear
the brunt of these cuts.

I’m pleased to report that despite these necessary financial cuts
for the long-term health of the Green Party, we successfully
prioritised the money available in Elections to support the target
constituencies. The £2000 made available by the national party
supported the improved results we saw in Brighton, Lewisham and
Norwich. We also stood the most candidates in a General Election since
1992, our record year, and we retained 24 deposits (in 1997 we saved
just one). These were our best ever General Election results.

Our freepost scheme was taken up by more local parties than ever
before, and although there are definite improvements to make in the
future to systems, the quality of the material was excellent. The
addressed freepost had a significant impact in terms of support where
it was used. I’d like to thank Richard Lane, Mark Hill and a number of
other for their hard work on the scheme.

The new rules introduced
by the PPERA mean that we have to compile electoral spending from one
year before the date of any election. This has meant increased amounts
of paperwork, which I would argue has proved discriminatory against
smaller political parties. As I write this report, I am still chasing
up information from some local parties. Chris Rose worked hard to
support all of our General Election and County Council Election
candidates with advice.

We were able to bring on the board the highly respected independent
film producer Alex Cox to produce the 2005 election broadcast, from
which the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The close links we
forged with the Scottish Green Party and the fact that Alex Cox was
producing the broadcast, attracted the donation of a song from Franz
Ferdinand. This enabled the Green Party to reach out to a younger age
group and gave us some excellent coverage. Our online campaigning was
very effective, with a number of tactical voting sites recommending a
Green vote in Brighton and Lewisham. This can only improve in 2009/10.

As well as the headline grabbing performance of Brighton Pavilion,
we made substantial County Council gains. Oxford and Norwich must be
held out as examples of local parties that have used our tried and
tested Target to Win strategy to break out of City Councils and win
County Council seats. They are an example to all other parties and I’m
aware that councillors from both areas are willing to offer advice and
support to crucial target wards in London and other areas. An elections
priority for 2005/06 is to re-establish the successful Target to Win
mailouts to support our crucial Council Election campaigns in 2006.

With 70 principal authority councillors, the Green Party is now
in reach of the important target of 100 councillors in England and
Wales in 2006. In order to reach this target, it will be crucial for us
to make real gains, particularly in London, but also in other
metropolitan authorities. With the financial situation stabilised,
Elections is well placed to support local parties in this upcoming
campaign.

Peter Cranie

Principal Speaker 2004/5

My first full year as elected Principal Speaker has been exciting and eventful.

With the support of Matt Wootton, the national press team and the
Brighton
& Hove media maestro Geoffrey Bowden, I was able to deliver the
Green message far and wide across a good range of print and broadcast
media.

The May 2005 elections were the electoral and media focus of the
past 12 months and, as I was also the Party’s number one Westminster
candidate, a
strategic decision was taken for me to ‘front’ as many media
appearances as possible. This strategy worked, as demonstrated by
frequent and positive coverage (Newsnight, BBC/ITV news, Radio 4 Today
programme, Radio 5 Live, Independent, Guardian, Times etc).

All media coverage has a cumulative effect, and I’m sure it made a
significant contribution to winning more council seats nationally and
in helping me secure the Party’s highest ever general election vote of
22% in
Brighton Pavilion constituency.

As Principal Speaker I attended several GPEx meetings, contributing
to the day to day running of the Party. Membership of the Political
Committee is
also a duty of the post, and I found the telephone conferences of this
group to be very helpful.

In the months around the election period I also visited several
local
parties when they were contesting by-elections or holding special
meetings. I think this element of the PS role is vital and, where
budget and time allows, should be developed to try and help make
connections between our
activities at national and local levels.

I have always held that, as a political party committed to achieving
change through the political process, we must use our best endeavours
to get more
Greens elected at every level. This I believe should be our primary
continuing objective. There is an ever-increasing need for more strong
voices championing a Green agenda that places environmental, social and
economic justice at its heart.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Principal
Speaker
Caroline Lucas whose unswerving support and advice has been invaluable
in the past year. Likewise thanks are due to the whole membership who
go to make the Party the very special thing it is. I believe that for
the Green Party the best is yet to come!

Keith Taylor

Local Party Support Co-ordinators

Much of our time in this post was taken up with producing Green Activist and several e-newsletters to members.

We should point out for the benefit of the party at large that in
our opinion, the co-ordination of core communications with party
members ought to be better organised and not fall onto the shoulders of
Local Party
Support.

From this year's experience, our recommendations, in order to ensure
that constitutionally required documents reach party members and that
postage costs are saved, and to ensure the efficient use of volunteer
time:
A timetable of dates for members’ mailings should be kept at party
office and widely circulated on an annual basis. This timetable should
related to the required dates for mailing to members of information
required for SOC/
conference/elections deadlines etc.; mailings of other publications
such as Green World and Green Activist to be strictly organised around
this timetable in order to save the party postage costs. These mail
outs to members should be budgeted for and costs proportionally
attributed under the budgets of the different parts of the party
organisation requiring use of the mailings. This year due to having to
send out Green Activist - in any case a full members mailing, not
specifically local party support - it fell on the shoulders of Local
Party Support to establish dates for member mail outs and confirm who
was undertaking postage, which ate into time available for supporting
local parties. It is also a worry that constitutionally required
mailings to members, which in other organisations might be organised to
a quarterly timetable, appeared to proceed so haphazardly, for a range
of reasons, with no established procedure.

In addition to the mailings mentioned above, we also produced and
started implementing a strategy document based on recruiting key
activists including those formerly active in other parties, distributed
the excellent 'Little Green Book' guide to running local parties and a
draft local constitution. We have worked closely with Young Greens, who
are part of our remit, helping them in efforts to recruit a support
member of start and encouraging them to take a more proactive approach
to NUS conference.

Young Greens work hard, have recruited many new activists and
provide the kind of social support and political education that should
be the envy of others in the Party. They provided the basis for strong
Party growth in the future. We have also been pleased to see a stream
of new activists entering
from other parties including a very high profile ex Liberal Democrat
executive member, several former Labour councillors and a number of
ex-Socialist Alliance activists with strong organisational experience.
There is increasing evidence that with New Labour spin doctoring
infiltrating ever new areas of British politics many on the radical
wing of the Lib Dems, the Labour Left and libertarian socialists see
the Greens as
their new home.

Approximately 15 new parties have been formed since January although
some are relaunches of existing parties. There is also some evidence
that more local parties are taking up target to win. We are keen that
instead of
reinventing the wheel we learn more from the larger parties such as
Brighton, Oxford, Norwich, the stronger South/West Yorkshire Parties,
etc. and are currently updating the local member site of the Green
Party members webpages to provide more details on how to create and
maintain such local parties.

Most Party regions have strong local parties, however only two
regions (West Midlands and London) have total geographical coverage.
Increasingly, local
parties based in towns/specific local areas are adopting strategies
(shown for example by standing in county elections) for the rest of
their county in order increase geographic coverage. The North East
region is clearly the weakest in terms of membership and local parties
on the ground but we are please to say that efforts are being made to
revive Teeside Green Party, which we will be visiting to support. Often
local parties are based on the activism of just a handful of
individuals. Amongst other advice we have mailed out ideas for key
activist recruitment and local fundraising, which we believe will be
vital for future growth. We have learnt a lot about how other political
parties sustain local parties and would hope we could adapt and adopt
some of their more innovative
methods.

Local Parties work best where activism is made easy, members are
personally contacted, small tasks such as leafleting are used to create
involvement, where there is strong culture of political
education/mutual learning through
speakers and media events and above all where involvement is made as
pleasurable and inclusive as possible. The abiding key to a vibrant,
active and meaningful local party remains standing in local elections.

Finally if you would like a copy of a draft constitution, a little
green
book or the strategy document mail Derek Wall (contact details
available from central office). Please also attend the Local Party
workshops at conference on fundraising and keeping people
involved.

Xanthe Bevis and Derek Wall

External Communications Co-ordinator

The General Election Campaign

Although tantalisingly just missing beating the Tories in Brighton
Pavilion, we had a good election considering the frighteningly scarce
resources, and I am confident that we ran the party's best campaign
ever.

I would give the national campaign a 7 out of 10. For the first
time, I have felt that all the elements have been a place: an Executive
that, while it had its management problems, hung together; smart
political expertise; the beginnings of a professional communications
strategy and
competent creative ideas; capable execution from the press office and
good backup from the Freepost scheme feeding into a range of
increasingly experienced candidates.

I am especially pleased that we had the most visual campaign ever,
with stunts such as the Ice Sculpture of Tony Blair reaching where no
Green Party story has ever reached before: the front page of the
Guardian (and also the BBC TV news bulletins). This visual element - as
well as
a general drive to involve more people in the press operation - has
been the main contribution that I have added to Spencer Fitz-Gibbon's
substantial legacy.

Keith Taylor and Caroline Lucas have really been an excellent and
complementary team of Principal Speakers, and Keith of course was an
exciting and good-to-work-with lead candidate in Brighton Pavilion, as
was Darren Johnson in Lewisham. Thanks are deserved also by Brighton's
press officer Geoffrey Bowden. Huge praise must go to Ben Duncan,
Caroline's press officer, for his creativity, advice and attention to
detail with myself and all of my team.

I owe the greatest debt to my former full-time paid press officer,
Ruth Somerville. I cajoled Ruth into taking on a lot of responsibility
and she rose to the challenge. She was a very good press officer with a
thorough knowledge of the party, who was worth far more than her
salary. As much thanks must go to Charlie Woodworth, who has been a
sterling unpaid volunteer for the press office, and who has had to
endure a lot of tedious office problems while not having all the
glamour of the creative press role in an election.

Immense thanks must go to Jim Killock, the Executive's Publications
Co-ordinator and designer of most Green Party leaflets and
publications. The work that Jim and I did in January on setting the
political and communications context for our campaign stood us in good
stead for the election. The Green Party's communications strategy is
unfinished and this vital work needs continuing. In particular, we must
be very clear which voters we are talking to, and with what tone of
voice.

The two-man ethical ad agency that Jim and I brought on board,
Satellite Marketing Communications, have been excellent also for
fostering genuine creativity in our publications and communications.

Excellent support has been given to me and the Press Office team by
Elections Co-ordinator Peter Cranie and by Finance Co-ordinator Khalid
Hussenbux, both of whom have worked incredibly hard in difficult roles
and shown great patience. I'd also like to thank Brian Heatley for
being a thoughtful and helpful colleague to work with as Policy
Co-ordinator. Tim Turner has also been a helpful and constructive GPRC
Co-Chair, and Adrian Oliver and Greg Patton hard-working office staff.

Many thanks of course are due to the actual candidates (of which I
was one in the County Council elections, coming 2nd place in Lancaster
East, with Labour winning). Candidates and councillors are the real
people that make the Green Party, and my only regret is that their
experience, perspectives, professionalism and input is not more often
seen or felt at the National level of the party.

Members' Website

As Convener of the IT Committee, I am overjoyed that we have finally
set-up the new Member's Website at www.greenparty.org.uk/members. Much
credit must go to Adam Boardman and Jim Killock for this. This website
now gives activists and members many useful resources that have been
previously inaccessible, and I hope it will contribute to a new era of
empowerment for ordinary members when coupled with the new email list
server, which is already making inter-activist communication easier for
users to manage.

Matthew LJ Wootton

International Co-ordinators

Margaret Wright and Volker Heinemann, Joint Co-ordinators of International Committee have had a lively year.

Changes to the way the committee is appointed were agreed at autumn
conference 2004. It is planned to submit a motion to conference to try
to ensure that more women are members of the committee so that the
European Green Party's commitment to gender balance may be more readily
achieved.

The co-ordinators have also looked at ways of ensuring that
delegates to European Green Party Council meetings are selected and
approved by International Committee. However, over the past year, the
EGP has called meetings at short notice on the subject of the EU
Constitution which has occupied a great deal of our time. Short notice
does not facilitate democratic decision making. The Council meeting of
the EGP held last November in Dublin was dominated by the decision of
the EGP to support a campaign for 'Yes' to the Constitution. This
resolution was reinforced in February 2005 by a further meeting in
Brussels.

Since last Spring Conference, we have participated in further
meetings in Brussels, particularly concerning the proposed European
Green Foundation, that is expected to receive substantial EU funding
for green projects across Europe. Margaret Wright presented a paper at
the 'Democracy Platform' in Diybakir, Turkey, looking at the situation
of the Kurdish people. She is continuing to work on this matter with
links in Diybakir and to KNK in London. She has also spoken at a rally
in the House of Commons on the right of Ocalan, the imprisoned Kurdish
leader to a fair trial.

Up to the 29 June the committee has met 3 times, usually in the British Library.

We attended and reported to GPRC in January.

We have attended and reported to all GPEX meetings between us. Usually we have both managed to be present.

All European Council meetings were attended by either one or both co-ordinators.

Either Margaret or Volker has chaired the meetings of the MEPs
Trust. Volker's financial expertise has proved useful in this regard.
We have also attempted to liase between the MEPs, their staff and the
wider party. We thank all concerned for their assistance in this work
which has required extra effort since Lydia Howitt's job was abolished.

Margaret continues to be an active member of the North Sea Greens
and participated in their meeting in Edinburgh focussing on the CFP and
coastal development.

Margaret Wright will be attending a summer event hosted by those in
Les Verts who supported 'No' to the EU Constitution and who are seeking
to reform the EGP so that it can embrace a greater diversity of opinion
reflecting the 'No' votes in France and the Netherlands.

The remit for International Committee is very wide. We realise that
much of our time is absorbed by matters concerning the EU. However, the
EU has a global impact so this does not necessarily mean that our
horizons are necessarily limited. Green Party members should be aware
that the EGP is expecting us to participate within its structures more
fully in the future.

We are operating within the financial constraints currently in force
in the GPEW and have taken steps to ensure that we remain within our
budget.

We had input to the General Election manifesto at its drafting
stage. As election agent for Cambridge, Margaret temporarily handed
over the entire international work during the immediate run-up of the
elections of May 5th to Volker.

Margaret Wright
Volker Heinemann

Management Co-ordinator

Membership

Fully paid up members (at 4th August) are 5474, compared with 5124
on 4th Aug 2004, while adding those overdue by up to six months puts
the figure up to 7104 this year as against 6361 last year. Following
the introduction of the monthly payment option in January, we now (at
04/08/05) have 119 members paying monthly. We also have 392 life
members.

Staff and Office Volunteers

It has been a fairly eventful year. The normal position in the
office at the moment is two full-time staff. These have been Adrian
Oliver, Office and Finance Manager, who has been with us throughout the
year, and an Admin Officer, a post filled by Adam Stacey until March.
Greg Patton joined last autumn as a pre-university gap year volunteer,
and since the departure of Adam we have been paying Greg to do the
number two job. He leaves in mid-August and recruitment for a
replacement – for which we have had many tens of applications, is well
underway. We recruited Pete McAskie, who has done sterling work as a
volunteer for several years, as an extra paid staff member for a
two-month period when Greg worked for Demos and also over the general
election period. Shyamal Kataria, a sandwich student part-way through
university, has very recently joined us to work as a volunteer for
hopefully eleven months and is just settling in. In addition we have
had numerous volunteers including several interns full-time for one or
two months and a number of people, mainly London members, who give us
one or two days per week. We thank all these people, who have worked
very hard and effectively throughout the year, and particularly during
the general election campaign.
The office did get overwhelmed during the peak of the election
campaign, however, and in retrospect, the decision to put the office’s
phone number by default on all the freepost leaflets was a mistake,
leading to some
enquirers not being followed up properly, though we believe all were
responded to at least once. It should be done differently next time.
Handling the phone calls on Party Election Broadcast evening was
satisfactory, we took perhaps 200 calls, nearly all positive, with a
team of
volunteers at the office. Perhaps 15% went to voicemail, mostly in
sharp
bursts immediately after the broadcasts. All were dealt with.

Insurance

Our previous insurers withdrew our general Public Liability
Insurance from 31-12-04, apparently because, after numerous queries to
check what exactly was covered, they realised didn’t know what they had
let themselves in for.
This had since mid-2002 provided centrally arranged £5 million Public
Liability Insurance for stalls anywhere in the UK. It proved impossible
to rearrange such cover, despite contacting dozens of brokers and
insurance companies, mostly ones specialising in the non-profit sector.
We do however have a £2 million public liability cover, but note that
it only covers “non-manual activities” which appears to include
staffing a stall, but not
erecting it, and certainly not taking part in a demo and e.g. injuring
someone with your placard or banner.

IT

The IT at the office, though reasonably effective, really ought to
be replaced with something better. We are at risk of outgrowing the
current
system over the next few years, and we now have a 3 or 4-year window
between major elections when we have person time available and some
disruption can
perhaps be tolerated. We would also like to have a system that can do
more to support members and party officials. Any change needs to be
managed very
carefully, however, to avoid the sort of disruption that the party has
experienced at some previous similar changes. And all on minimal
spending.
We are just starting work on this and will be consulting widely.

Political Parties and Electoral Referendums Act

Administering the excessive amounts of detail legally required by
the
donations reporting aspects of the PPERA and maintaining our ‘scheme’
continues to take up large amounts of my and other admin time, not to
mention that of local and regional party treasurers.

Tony Cooper

Finance Co-ordinator

The accounts for the year ending 31st December 2004 have been audited, signed off and submitted to the Electoral Commission.

The auditors have raised various concerns, which I intend to resolve
with them in due course. One of their main concerns is that we should
not set deficit budgets without sufficient reserves. I have therefore
revised the remainder of the 2005 budget to take this into account.

A brief summary of the Balance Sheet, as at 31St December 2004,
shows that our liabilities exceeded our assets by £14,372. This has
arisen because of the way in which The Electoral Commission has
insisted we present our accounts. We are expected to accrue for unused
portions of annual membership subscriptions rather than consider the
whole amount as income on receipt. The required adjustment has the
effect of increasing our liabilities at the end of 2004 by £38,000. In
my view, this distorts our accounts rather than giving a true and fair
view of the state of the Party’s affairs. I intend to make a
representation to the Electoral Commission, requesting dispensation
from this requirement.

The deferring of membership income has contributed to a deficit of general funds as at 31st December 2004 of £44,094.

On election to this post I realised that the Party’s finances and
internal controls needed significant improvement. At the present time,
The Green Party could be seen as a leaky bucket, with holes that need
plugging. With this in mind, I have rearranged my work commitments to
contribute approximately two days per week to this role. There will be
a gradual and continuing improvement in financial controls, reporting,
financial management and planning, and fundraising. GPEx has been
receiving increasingly accurate and timely financial reports on a
regular basis.

There continues to be a considerable constraint on budgets and
spending due to major elections in consecutive years and a lack of
external fundraising. Seven months into 2005, having imposed
challenging constraints on spending, we are on track for our zero
budget.

I would like to thank 2004/5 GPEx Co-ordinators for their co-operation and for accepting the necessary budgetary discipline.

Finally, the March 2005 appeal to members raised £37,672 and I would
like to thank members for their continuing financial support.

A04. Regional Council Co-chairs

The four regular GPRC meetings have been mostly well attended by
regional representatives, fulfilling one of the main functions of GPRC
which is to act as a forum liasing between all parts of the party.
Currently, all the regions have two representatives except the North
East with no representative and West Midlands with one. At the start of
the year, Bridget Green retired as Co-chair, to have a baby, and Irene
Willis was elected to replace her. Tim Turner is now retiring after 2
years as Co-chair.

Our meetings are held in different regions allowing us to meet local
party members and members to attend the meeting if they wish. We have
now appointed a Meetings Co-ordinator to liase between GPRC and local
parties hosting a meeting, so that the maximum benefit is gained for
all involved. If your local/regional party would like to host a
meeting, please contact your regional reps.

All GPRC meetings are open to members of the party and your regional
reps are always ready to listen to your views, complaints or ideas for
developing the party.

Policy statements

The manifesto for the general election was approved by GPRC in Jan
2005. A policy statement on city academies was approved in April 2005
(see appendix). GPRC and Policy Committee have reviewed the standing
orders for GPRC-approved policy statements and are now proposing
amended standing orders for approval by conference.

Selection procedures

An amendment to House of Commons selection by-laws was approved by
Spring Conference. Where there are 20 or fewer members in a
constituency, the local party can now decide to ballot the whole local
party membership, rather than just the members in the constituency.

A selection procedure for nominations to the House of Lords was
approved by Spring Conference and the process of selecting a new
nominee has been initiated.

Spring Conference referred back a set of rules for local authority
candidate selections proposed by GPRC. GPRC will seek approval for a
revised set of rules in future, but in the meantime, they are available
as guidance for local parties drafting their own selection rules.

General election candidates

GPRC approved the nomination of three general election candidates
for constituencies where there were no local parties. We remind
prospective candidates wishing to stand in this situation (or their
regional party) to contact GPRC at the earliest opportunity should a
general election or by-election be likely to arise.

Autonomous regions

GPRC agreed to continue the agreement with Wales Autonomous Region
in Jan and we hope that some current administrative difficulties can be
resolved. Spring Conference voted to remove the provisions for any
further autonomous regions from the constitution.

Strategy

There has been little development of strategy this year, but now the
Euro and general elections are well behind us, now is surely the time
to reconsider strategy. GPRC would like to ensure that GPEx and the
wider party are fully involved in the process of strategy development.

Co-operation between national bodies and better ways of working

GPRC is exploring ways to ensure better co-operation between Party
bodies at a national level. April GPEx and GPRC meetings met alongside
each other but there was little opportunity for discussion. GPRC is
also looking at ways to improve its own functioning within the Party as
well as conduct of its meetings.

Executive Matters

GPRC acknowledges the hard work of GPEx members, particularly during
the election campaign and appreciates that co-ordinators often have to
take decisions in difficult circumstances. However, GPRC has been
concerned at some decisions and actions of GPEx co-ordinators this year
and wants to ensure that future GPEx co-ordinators avoid similar
pitfalls and mistakes. In particular:

GPEx members should act accountably, transparently and in consultation with other officers, groups and members.

GPEx members should know and follow procedures, particularly in employment and financial matters.

GPEx
members are frequently representing the Party externally and it is
essential that they express the policies and decisions of the Party
unambiguously.

Work as a GPEx member requires a large time
commitment with no financial gain. Whilst we appreciate that some will
have family and work commitments, prospective GPEx members must ensure
that they have the motivation and commitment to properly fulfil the
role.

There is currently no GPEx handbook for new members and GPRC will help
to ensure that one is produced, outlining the responsibilities involved
and providing essential information for GPEx members.

Motion of Censure

The July GPRC meeting passed the following resolution:

“GPRC censures Matt Wootton for not keeping to budget
and not adhering to agreed financial procedures. GPRC is concerned at
instances of Matt Wootton's poor working relationships with other Green
Party Members. This is unacceptable. GPRC recommends to him that he
does not stand for re-election to GPEx next year.”

Finance

The party, as ever, is struggling to maintain a service to its
members and to fight elections on a budget far smaller than those of
other parties. We would like to acknowledge all the voluntary effort
that went into making the elections such a success on limited resources
and also to thank staff who went way beyond the call of duty in the
months before the elections.

Local Party Support

A new 'Little Green Book' guide for local parties has been produced
and is now available from the Local Party Support Co-ordinator. GPRC is
keen to see the development of a new guide for new members as well as
resources for local parties on the members section of the website.

GPRC is keen to see development of support and resources in specific
areas, such as fundraising, media work and membership recruitment and
retention. GPRC is looking at local parties with the best (and worst!)
record of membership retention to see if any lessons can be learnt.

Disability Matters

GPRC is looking at various disability issues and ways to improve
accessibility within the Party and in external relations and publicity.
GPRC has agreed that accessibility issues with Party Office must be
addressed at the earliest opportunity.

Conference working group

Following a paper from John Street, two members of Conference
Committee discussed the increasing difficulties with hosting
conferences, at the April GPRC meeting – in particular the difficulty
of finding cheap venues. We have established a group to look at the
issues and also hope to get feedback from attendees at Autumn
Conference.

Gender working group

Following the motion passed by conference a working group has been
created with members of GPRC and Margaret Wright from GPEx. They are
looking at gender balance, firstly within the party and secondly to
encourage more women to stand as candidates for election.

A draft motion has been prepared for the next conference, which will
be discussed at this conference and there is a questionnaire asking
opinions regarding various strategies that the party could adopt.

We are also starting women only training sessions to develop election skills.

Emergency motions

Concern has been expressed that emergency motions can be overly
complex, or bind the party to a policy or action that has not been
properly discussed. GPRC is looking at options for addressing these
concerns and others.

Disputes

GPRC is looking at ways of dealing with disputes within local and
regional parties. However, GPRC has not had to address any such
disputes this year.

Disciplinary Cases

A member whose membership had lapsed was barred from re-joining the party.

APPENDIX

Policy statement on city academies

The GP is opposed to the development and expansion of City
Academies. They are contrary to the GP’s policy on non-selective
publicly funded education accountable to local control. The GP is also
opposed to the redesignation of 11 to 16 schools as this takes away the
choice.

Approved by GPRC April 2005

Appendix to GPRC and Policy Committee Standing Orders: Green
Party Policy Statements that are agreed by GPRC and not by Conference

Agreed by GPRC July 2005/Agreed by Policy Committee July 2005/Adopted by Conference September 2005

1.0 Definition

1.1 Policy Statements are an expansion, extension or extrapolation
of existing Green Party policies and are normally approved by
Conference.

1.2 Between conferences such statements may be adopted by GPRC.

1.3 GPRC approved policy statements shall not contain new policy and must be clearly supported by existing policy.

2.0 Content and Form

2.2 A proposed Policy Statement shall be written in a form suitable
for publication by the Party. It shall not normally exceed 1000 words
in length. Policy Committee shall, as part of their involvement under
para 4.1 below, if they consider the Policy Statement to be too lengthy
or if they consider the text to be unsuitable or misleading, précis or
redraft a Policy Statement in consultation with the proposer.

3.0 Initiating and Drafting Policy Statements

3.1 The initiator of the request for a Policy Statement should
appoint somebody from within their own ranks to "lead" on the project.
It shall be that person's responsibility for ensuring that the Policy
Statement is prepared and submitted to GPRC.

3.2 The project leader should immediately inform the Policy
Committee, via the Policy Development Co-ordinator, that they wish to
produce the Policy Statement.

3.3 It is the project leader's responsibility to appoint somebody to
draft the proposal, or to decide to draft it themselves if they prefer.

4.0 Proposal

4.1 If time permits, Policy Committee shall provide the following additional information:

the existing Party policy on the subject.

information in relation to any other policy initiatives being currently undertaken on the subject.

any apparent contradictions to existing policy.

Policy Committee's opinion of the proposed Policy Statement.

4.2 Proposed Policy Statements and Policy Committee's views shall be
included within the agenda papers for the next relevant meeting of the
Regional Council, and should, if there is time, be initially submitted
to GPRC's Policy Statements Approval Sub-Committee (see para 5.3 below).

5.0 GPRC Policy Statements Approval Sub-Committee

5.1 Regional Council shall elect a Policy Statement Approval
Sub-Committee of 3 members from within its ranks, one of whom will be
any elected GPEX Policy Development Co-ordinator Friend.

5.2 The role of the Approval Sub-Committee shall be to consider any
proposed Policy Statements prior to submission to a full Regional
Council meeting.

5.3 Copies of the proposed Policy Statement shall be circulated to
the Approval Sub-Committee members for consideration as soon as it has
been prepared. The Approval Sub-Committee members shall discuss the
proposed Policy Statement with its initiator/s, project leader,
Executive Policy Co-ordinator and appropriate Policy Working Groups as
they see fit.

5.4 The Approval Sub-Committee shall ensure that the proposed Policy
Statement is submitted to the next full Regional Council meeting agenda
along with recommendations as to whether it should be accepted,
rejected or amended.

6.0 Approval of Policy Statements by GPRC

6.1 The Approval Sub-Committee's views shall be taken into
consideration by Regional Council, but shall not be binding upon
Regional Council when making its final decision.

6.2 Proposed Policy Statements should only be subject to minor amendment by Regional Council.

6.3 A two-thirds majority of the Regional Council members present
shall be required to pass, amend or delete a Policy Statement. The
Approval Sub-Committee shall keep a record of GPRC votes relating to
Policy Statements and inform the Policy Development Co-ordinator of the
same.

7.0 Rapid Policy Statements

7.1 A rapid policy statement is a policy statement that is needed urgently and which goes through the procedure set out below.

7.2 A rapid Policy statement must be commissioned by one of the
External Communications Co-ordinator, a Principal Speaker, the
Campaigns Co-ordinator, the Policy Development Co-ordinator, the Chair
or one of the Co-chairs of GPRC.

7.3 It must be unanimously approved by a panel comprising the Policy
Development Co-ordinator, the Approval Sub-Committee, a representative
of the relevant Members Working Group (or a representative of Policy
Committee if there is no such recognised Members Working Group).
Members of the Panel must appoint deputies to be involved if the member
is unavailable.

7.4 If such a rapid Policy Statement is not ratified by the next
meeting of the Regional Council then it ceases to be a Policy Statement
at the end of the meeting.

8.0 Record keeping, reporting to Conference, amendment and deletion

8.1 Policy Committee shall ensure that all Policy Statements adopted
by GPRC are included with all other policy statements in the Manifesto
of Policy Statements.

8.2 GPRC should include all Policy statements adopted in a given year in its report to conference.

8.3 Policy Committee may make recommendations to GPRC from time to
time concerning the minor amendment and deletion of Policy Statements.

A05. Policy Committee

Conference Agenda

There is one voting paper this conference on Agriculture. This is
brought under the procedure in the Standing Orders that requires Policy
Committee to choose a section of the MfSS for review if there are no
other voting papers. We have chosen agriculture partly because much of
the policy was quite old, partly because it is a key area for us, but
also because the Agriculture Policy Group was willing to take on the
task. We will need to choose a further chapter for review next
conference and would welcome suggestions; the willingness of a policy
group to do the work is always an important factor.
There are no less than 11 policy motions, some of which are quite
substantial and contentious, and a further policy motion on monetary
reform that has been ruled out of order by SOC. On reviewing these
motions (and also two motions in Section D on intellectual property and
open source software which have a large policy content) the Committee
has become concerned by the number of motions that involve quite
substantial and long term policy that have not been expressed as
amendments to the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society (MfSS). We do
think that it is important that motions containing important and long
term policy should be properly integrated into the MfSS, both because
that is where people expect to find them, and to ensure the overall
coherence of our policies. We are grateful to those who have taken the
trouble to express their motions this way for this conference, and are
always willing to help proposers formulate their motions in an
appropriate way.
Last conference there were some problems because SOC ruled out of order
some motions that were effectively policy statements. We and SOC were
asked to review the situation, and we came to an agreement with SOC
about how they would interpret the rules for this conference (though
this did not effect the Monetary Reform motion). This is not however a
satisfactory long term solution, and we will be discussing with SOC
some small amendments to the rules.

Other Policy Work

Last conference passed enabling motions on Culture, Media and Sport
and on Government and Administration. In both cases the work is being
lead by members of the Committee, and with the General Election in
between we are not in a position to bring draft voting papers to this
conference. However, we will be running workshops on both topics, and
if you want to get involved in this work please come to those
workshops.
Last Autumn conference asked the Committee to review our policies on
Land Value Tax and Council Tax. After setting up a group and
consultations, we brought some interim proposals to last conference,
largely to slightly alter our policy on Council Tax. However, the main
job remains, which is either to produce some rather more worked through
proposals on Land Value Tax or to produce an alternative. We have made
no further progress on this as we are waiting for the results of an
external research project covering some of the same ground, and will
get on with this work when that research is available.

Policy Statements approved by GPRC

We have agreed with GPRC a new procedure for these statements which is appended to the GPRC report.

The General Election

An important part of the Committee's work this year was concerned
with the General Election Manifesto. We think that the procedure was
not as good as it could have been, and there will be a workshop at this
Conference to consider how we might better go about this in the future.
During (and for a surprisingly long period after) the election the
Committee handled an ever larger volume of mainly e-mail policy
enquiries, and requests from outside organisations for our position on
a wide range of topics (and special thanks here to Jonathan Dixon who
covered all this while I was away in the first part of April). We also
provided briefing to our candidates. The main feedback we have had on
this was positive, with requests in particular for more on the other
parties policies (especially material to separate us from the Lib Dems)
and on small firms and young people.

The Policy Community and the Committee

While the volume of policy motions for this conference hardly
suggests that interest in policy making is at a low ebb in the party,
we are a little concerned that a number of the policy working groups
and policy e-mail lists are inactive, and that perhaps the volume of
debate and consultation before motions are put to conference is not
always as much as it should be. We would urge members to get involved
in policy groups and lists, and to revive those that are inactive;
there are welcome signs in particular that the Education Group is to be
revived. We need real help with the exciting and difficult work on
culture media and sport, and with the rather less exciting but very
necessary work to sort out our policies on government.

As Policy Co-ordinator I have been blessed with and relied heavily
upon an exceptionally able, informed and energetic committee this year,
but, I have sadly to report, an exclusively male one! I am very
grateful to them, and hope they will stand again next year. However,
please do not let that put newcomers off from standing, especially if
you can do something to end the male monopoly!

A6. Campaigns Committee

A7. Disputes Resolution Committee

At the time of writing this report DRC are not dealing with any outstanding
disputes, and have not been approached for help in the period after Spring
Conference.

This does not mean there are no disputes.

We contacted one party to a dispute that became public knowledge and were
able to discuss the issues with that person.

We are aware of a breakdown in relationships in some parts of the Party
which are currently being dealt with without the assistance of DRC.

DRC continues to observe how Party member's energies are invested in
disputes. Committee members would naturally prefer to see this energy
directed into constructive political activity instead, and would therefore
welcome suggestions as to how this might be achieved.

The major piece of work currently being looked at by DRC is to review the
employment
procedures of paid Party employees because DRC have an important role in one
of
these procedures - in this case with the Anti Harassment policy - where DRC
have a duty to assist paid Party employees.
It is clear that further work is needed to ensure the procedures can be
implemented effectively if they are ever needed.

We need members with suitable skills and commitment to put themselves
forward for election to Dispute Resolution Committee at this Conference.

DRC are also needing to update the list of members with appropriate
experience and skills who are able and willing to assist DRC with dispute
resolution within the Green Party.

A8. MEP Trust

The MEP Trust's primary task is to act as agent for the England and
Wales Green MEPs, managing certain monies and operating as the employer
of their staff – both in the UK and in Brussels.

The Trust meets quarterly in London and is currently made up of the
following members: Jean Lambert MEP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Margaret
Wright (Co-International Co-ordinator), Volker Heinemann
(Co-International Co-ordinator), Irene Willis (for GPRC), Tony Cooper
(for South East region), John Street (for London region), John Nairn
(finance), and Emma Hallett (personnel).

There have been significant staff changes, with a majority of the
staff now having changed since the Euro election. Jaime Eastham, Lydia
Howitt, Gemma Stunden and Justin Wilkes have all left and new staff
include Danny Bates, Morwenna Holland, Erica Hope and Cath Miller. Ben
Duncan now works solely for Caroline and Paul Steedman's role has
changed from being Caroline's UK assistant to being the Trust's
(part-time) finance officer. Helen Frew, Andrea Smith and Keith Taylor
continue in their same roles. All posts are currently filled.

The MEPs have issued and disseminated a number of publications over
the past year, including the production of two editions of MEPs In
Action, constituency newsletters, outreach leaflets and Making Tracks.
There was a high level of information dissemination at Spring
conference. There should be more (free) material available at the MEPs
stall at this conference, so please visit the stand. Jean and Caroline
have both been disseminating monthly email newsletters through the
year. These are designed for both party members and the public, and are
available on their websites. Anyone wanting to receive the newsletter
directly should leave their email details at the MEPs' stall. These
reports cover the detail of the MEPs work. More information can be had
at the stall and at the 'meet the MEPs' session at this conference.

The UK office has seen a successful IT upgrade. The Trust is
reviewing how far MEP publications are accessible, with a view to
increasing accessibility and possibly offering publications in
non-standard formats. A carbon offsetting policy has been adopted which
covers both MEPs and staff.

A09. Green World Editorial Board

A10. Conferences Committee

At the 2004 Autumn conference and AGM in Weston Super Mare, Anna
Baker,
Laura Davenport, Leila Kiersch, and John Street were elected to
conferences committee. The vacancy was filled by Chris Whitehouse in
March following elections at the Spring Conference 2005, Chesterfield.
Shortly after that conference Laura Davenport resigned her post - the
team are very grateful to her for all the help and time she gave since
her original election in spring 2004. Warm thanks are also extended to
the local parties of Sheffield and Lancaster who have helped and
without whom conferences wouldn't happen.

Conferences continue to run within budget, however, the possibility
that this will not remain the case was raised with GPEx and GPRC. The
principal reason for giving this warning is because of the difficulties
experienced in finding suitable and affordable venues. The committee
has started using external conference venue finder services to help in
this.

Other difficulties experienced and envisioned for future conferences
included co-ordinating conference mailings with other party
publications in an attempt to reduce costs, paying for the crèche, and
locating crash
space. Health and Safety considerations and the demands of insurance
companies means that halls are increasingly reluctant to consider
overnight stays.

Venues and dates have been provisionally booked for 2006. These are:

Scarborough Spa Pavilion 16-19 March

Hove Town Hall 21 – 24 September

Both venues will cost more than previous conferences but because the
locations are known the difficulties highlighted above
should be reduced. Conferences committee have been asked to book a
venue in south Wales for spring 2007, to coincide with the Wales
Assembly elections - suggestions for venues welcomed.

Section B (Voting Papers)

B10. Agriculture Working paper (submitted by Policy Committee)

Motion

Delete the existing section of the MfSS on Agriculture (paragraphs AG100 to AG619) and replace it with the following:

AGRICULTURE

Introduction

AG100 The GP's aim is to create an ecologically
sustainable and fair society. Our agriculture policy seeks to pursue
this aim with respect to the production of food and other
agriculturally derived products. In stating this policy we acknowledge
that the soil is the basis of wealth upon which all land-based life
depends and that "sustainable" must be understood in a holistic,
earth-wide context. We recognise the fundamental importance of those
who work on the land.

Amendment 1

Delete and that ‘sustainable’ must be understood in a holistic earth-wide context.

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

AG101 The Agriculture policy cannot be taken in
isolation from other policies; in particular it relates very closely to
the forestry, food, land and countryside sections and also the sections
on animal rights, economy, energy, the marine environment and others.
It is related to the population policy in that we need to balance our
ways of obtaining resources for living with population and productivity
of the land; there must be an optimum population whose needs can be met
sustainably from our land resources.

Amendment 2

Delete AG101

If this falls

Amendment 3

Delete AG101and replace with:

The Agriculture policy should be reviewed in the context of other policies. See the cross references throughout

Amendment 10

produce unhealthy food due to use of harmful chemicals in production and storage.

harm the health of growers who have to apply the chemicals.

cause land which could be used as "wilderness" or for food production to be devoted to animal fodder.

fail to make the best use of our own land for meeting our needs.

force reliance on a small number and narrow genetic range of food plants, causing loss of essential genetic diversity.

lead to overproduction of particular crops and food dumping in the majority world.

Amendment 11

In AG102 n. Delete in the majority world

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

AG201 It has been shown that small, labour
intensive farms and small scale growing in allotments and gardens
produce far more per unit area than large, capital intensive farms.
More benign methods of growing are just as productive as conventional
methods.

AG202 There is an ever growing demand for organic
food, held back only by the artificially high extra cost of organic
produce (and the artificially low costs of inputs to chemical based
agriculture).

Amendment 12

Replace:

AG202 There is an ever
growing demand for organic food, held back only by the artificially
high extra cost of organic produce (and the artificially low costs of
inputs to chemical based agriculture)

with:

AG202
There is a growing demand for organic and locally produced food, held
back by the higher cost of organic produce (compared to the
artificially low cost of chemically based agriculture), lack of
availability and lack of information.

AG203 Many "alternative" crops for textiles, fuels, paper and other industrial uses are being trialled.

AG204 Various methods of growing more sustainably
and organically are being pioneered; in particular permaculture,
agroforestry, forest gardening and perennial crops.

AG205 Much land which is currently unproductive
could be used for small scale production, especially in gardens,
schools, parks and derelict urban areas.

AG206 Massive reductions of greenhouse gas
emissions are needed to stem climate change. Current agricultural
practice makes a big contribution to emissions through food miles and
the burning of fossil fuels in the manufacture and transport of
agrochemicals. Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas and
agricultural activities, including ruminant emissions and rotting
vegetation, are significant sources. Industrially produced nitrogenous
fertilisers are believed to be the main source of nitrous oxide,
another important greenhouse gas. Conversely, reafforested land acts as
a carbon dioxide sink.

Amendment 13

In AG206 replace:

Current agricultural practice
makes a big contribution to emissions through food miles and the
burning of fossil fuels in the manufacture and transport of
agrochemicals.

with:

Current agricultural
practice makes a substantial contribution to emissions through food
miles, production and transport of animal feed and the use of fossil
fuels in the manufacture and agrochemicals.

AG207 Small scale growing and mixed farming would give more flexibility and resilience as climate changes.

AG208 Genetic engineering will not solve the
problems created by industrial agriculture, it can only add to them.
Genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs) will give large profits to a
few multinational corporations, as opposed to making farming easier or
more efficient. GMO crops will crossbreed with wild varieties and
species and may transfer genes for herbicide and pesticide resistance
and antibiotic resistance. This will affect wildlife areas, diversity
of crops will be reduced and GMO crops will be vulnerable to pests and
diseases.
GMO crops which are designed to produce bio-pesticide toxins are likely
to create insect resistance in the target species thus creating the
need for more chemical and biotechnological pesticides. The GMO plants
may be toxic to the natural predators of the target organisms, to non
target organisms and to beneficial insects. Use of GMO crops to produce
toxins will undermine organic agricultural techniques which rely on the
use of related but naturally produced toxins. Potentially GMO crops
could cause irreversible damage to the ecology of this planet and
damage the health of the people on it; we must apply the precautionary
principle.

Amendment 14

Replace AG208 with the following and renumber:

AG208 Genetic engineering will not solve the problems created by
industrial agriculture, it can only add to them. Genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) will give large profits to a few multinational
corporations, as opposed to making farming easier or more efficient.

AG209 GM crops can cross-breed with wild varieties and transfer
genes to other species, posing a long-term threat to wildlife and
biodiversity. Genes for herbicide resistance can be transferred to
other plants, creating 'super weeds' and necessitating the use of
ever-stronger herbicides. Herbicides used with GM crops have been shown
to harm both wildlife and human health. GM crops which are designed to
produce bio-pesticide toxins can create insect resistance in the target
species, thus creating the need for more chemical and biotechnological
pesticides. Such crops may be toxic to the natural predators of the
target organisms, to non-target organisms and to beneficial insects. In
addition, use of such crops to produce toxins undermines organic
agricultural techniques which rely on the use of related but naturally
produced toxins.

AG210 The use of GM crops in developing countries has proved
disastrous to farming communities. Not only have the crops failed in
many cases, but they undermine the diversity of local seed varieties
with monoculture GM crops designed to secure profits for multinational
biotech companies.

AG211 Despite widespread introduction of GM foods in the US and
elsewhere, the potential dangers of GM foods to human health have not
been properly investigated and risks remain considerable. Potentially
GM crops could cause irreversible damage to the ecology of this planet
and damage the health of the people on it. We must therefore apply the
precautionary principle.

Amendment 15

AG209 Animal based food production systems are much less efficient at providing food energy and protein than plant based methods.

Principles

AG300

Production for human need should be consistent with the need to protect and restore biological diversity.

Agricultural systems, appropriate to local climate and soils, should be
ecologically designed to ensure that they are locally self-reliant;
food , materials and goods should be produced as near to the consumer
as possible.

Agricultural systems should produce the
absolute minimum of unwanted outputs which become pollutants; they
should be cyclical systems in which outputs are turned into new inputs.

Agricultural practices must maintain or improve soil fertility and water resources and quality.

Treatment of animals must be consistent with GP policy on animal rights.

All people must have access to an adequate, wholesome diet of fresh food, as a basic human right.

Agricultural policy should be determined locally but within a Europe wide framework of environmental standards.

Amendment 16

AG300 g. Delete but within a Europe wide framework of environmental standards.

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

Land ownership should not include the right to abuse the land or to deprive other citizens of access to land.

Short term policy aims.

(Targets and timetables will be set to cover one parliamentary term.)

AG400 To increase substantially the proportion of land designated organic.

AG401 To minimise the use of harmful non-organic substances in the treatment of soil, crops and animals by farmers and growers.

Amendment 17

Replace existing AG401:

To minimise the use of harmful non-organic substances in the treatment of soil, crops and animals by farmers and growers.

with:

To
minimise the use of harmful substances in the treatment of soil, crops
and animals by farmers and growers; to protect farmers, rural dwellers
and consumers from the use of these substances.

AG407 To encourage producers to use their own local or traditional seed varieties.

AG408 To encourage diversification to crops other than food and fodder.

AG409 To reduce the amount of livestock kept on land which could be used for other food crops or afforestation .

AG410 To define and promote a sustainable, healthy diet as a basis for deciding what food crops to encourage.

Long term policy aims

AG500 To be able to fulfil all our basic food needs locally.

AG501 To grow as many other products as we can to meet our basic needs (e.g. for textiles, fuel, paper) on a local or regional basis.

AG502 To enable all communities to have access to land which can be used for growing for basic needs. (see LD200-LD206)

AG503 To ensure that all growing systems use only
natural, renewable inputs and that all organic waste outputs are able
to be recycled back into the soil or water system.

AG504 To maximise our woodland/forest cover to help maintain carbon dioxide at an acceptable level. (see F300 and following)

AG505 To protect habitats so that biodiversity is maintained.

AG506 To prevent monopolies and other concentrations of power in agriculture

AG507 To decrease our dependence on animal products and ensure that all domesticated animals are kept in humane conditions.

AG508 To ensure that our use of the land and demand
for food and goods is not detrimental to people or biodiversity in
other parts of the planet.

Policy actions

Economic Measures

AG600 Give financial help and advice to farmers
making the transition to organic and biodynamic growing, mixed
rotational cropping, small scale growing, permaculture ventures,
agroforestry and ventures which will restore or create diverse
habitats. Phase out all subsidies which contribute to environmentally
harmful agricultural practices.

AG601 Facilitate farm box schemes and direct links
between growers and local consumers including local green markets.
Provide pump priming funding to set up locally owned and controlled
"Organic and free range marketing co-operatives". Set up a non profit
making organic produce marketing board.

Amendment 21

AG601 Delete green markets and replace with farmers’ markets.

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

AG602 End set-aside. Encourage instead the planting
of productive woodland, non food crops and plant based waste treatment
systems. Design these to enhance the protection and creation of
wildlife habitats. (see CY500 and following)

Amendment 22

Add a new paragraph after existing AG602 and renumber:

Discourage monopolies and concentrations of power
amongst processors and distributors which place unreasonable demands on
production and farm-gate prices.

AG604 Introduce a Land Value Tax. LVT, by
eliminating speculation in land and stabilising prices, will encourage
local people, particularly the young to remain in agriculture. Together
with the Green Party's policy of enhanced land use planning, LVT will
encourage more small, labour intensive productive ventures such as
permaculture as well as co-operative ownership patterns. (see Land
section and also CY530)

AG605 Introduce measures such as a citizens income
scheme, protection for part time workers and shorter working hours
which will free people to devote time to growing their own food (see
EC750-53).

AG606 Support local free nurseries for plants which are productive and beneficial to the environment.

Planning

Amendment 23

Add a new paragraph before existing AG607 and renumber:

New developments on agricultural and green belt land will be strictly limited. (See LP302 & LP400)

Research and Development

AG610

Transfer research funding to organic growing,
permaculture, agroforestry, other sustainable methods of growing and to
crops which can act as substitutes for the use of non-renewable
resources (e.g. hemp). Phase out research into non-sustainable methods.

Amendment 24

AG610 Delete methods [in final sentence] and replace with agriculture’.

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

SOC Note – [in final sentence] added by SOC.

Fund research into holistic,
sustainable designs for living so that balances can be found between
the various aspects of growing for human needs and maintaining the
planet.

Develop small scale, appropriate farm technology and machinery which will not damage the soil.

Re-instate funding for the Soil Survey and link into the survey of the
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. Provide funding for seed
banks/libraries and the conservation of seed varieties.

Research and develop ways of returning all biodegradable human and
animal waste to the soil to act as nutrients and soil improvers.

Set up small scale research and demonstration centres and implement the recommendations of research.

Education

AG611

Include benign methods of cultivation,
practical experience of growing and healthy sustainable nutrition as
curriculum options in all general educational establishments.

Amendment 25

AG611 Delete sustainable before nutrition.

Submitted by Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe, Angela Cantwell & Nicky Gregory

In agricultural education and advice establishments give immediate priority to sustainable production methods.

Give support and advice to those currently employed in intensive agriculture so that they can learn appropriate new skills.

Amendment 26

At the end of AG611 a., add: (See ED369).

Insert new AG611 b. (and reletter b. and c.): Encourage and support educational links between schools and farms respecting the principles of sustainability..

Amendment 29

Add a new paragraph after existing AG612 and renumber:

Phase out and ban all intensive/industrial livestock
farming, including poultry and fish farms, which involve overstocking,
heavy use of feed, chemical or fossil fuel inputs, pollution or
inhumane conditions for livestock.

AG614 Ban substances which represent the greatest
threat to the environment because of their toxicity, persistence and
capacity for bio-accumulation. Phase out the use of synthetic chemicals
which do not meet organic standards set by the Soil Association. In the
longer term, ban the use of environmentally and socially harmful
methods of growing and treating food and other agricultural products
(see also AG603).

Amendment 31

In AG614, replace:

Ban substances which represent
the greatest threat to the environment because of their toxicity,
persistence and capacity for bio-accumulation. Phase out the use of
synthetic chemicals which do not meet organic standards set by the Soil
Association.

with:

Ban substances which
represent the greatest threat to the environment or health through
their toxicity, persistence or capacity for bio-accumulation. Phase out
the use of synthetic chemicals which do not meet UK and international
organic standards.

Amendment 32

Add a new paragraph after existing AG614 and renumber:

Introduce stringent regulations to protect rural
residents and communities from the use of pesticides and other
chemicals, to include a ban on the use of any synthetic chemicals near
homes, schools, workplaces and any other places of human habitation and
compulsory recording and notification of spraying activities.

Amendment 33

Add a new paragraph after existing AG614 and renumber:

Introduce stringent regulations to monitor and prevent
run-off of agricultural chemicals and nutrients into adjacent land and
watercourses, to include pollution from fish farms.

Amendment 34

Add a new paragraph after existing AG614 and renumber:

Legislate for a strict liability regime which makes
farmers liable for misuse of harmful substances. Ultimately the
government and chemical manufacturers would be liable for poisoning of
employees, rural dwellers or consumers, harm to wildlife, pollution of
watercourses or accumulation in ecosystems.

AG615 Introduce a food security clause at the World
Trade Organisation to allow countries to protect their domestic
agriculture from foreign imports up to the point of self sufficiency.

AG616 Safeguard organic food growing standards and
ensure that agricultural products are labelled to show any non-organic
treatments (see FD205-212).

AG617 Apply the precautionary principle to the
regulation of genetic research and its application to safeguard against
irreversible damage to the ecology of this planet (see AG208). Ban the
introduction of genetically modified organisms and their products in
all agricultural systems of production including human and animal feed.
Ban the transgenic manipulation of animals for any agricultural
purpose. Safeguard against any genetic modification which is made in
the pursuit of profits, rather than the interests of people, animals
and biodiversity.

Amendment 35

In AG617...Ban the transgenic manipulation of animals for any agricultural purpose.
Add genetic or before transgenic".

Amendment 36

Add a new paragraph after existing AG617 and renumber:

While GMOs still exist in our food supply and
environment, establish and uphold the rights of consumers, farmers and
local authorities to choose GM-free food and to establish GM-free
zones. Legislate for a strict liability regime which makes bio-tech (GM
seed) companies fully liable for any losses through contamination or
harm caused to wildlife or human health

AG618 Maintain systems for the independent monitoring of water quality and the application of standards.

Allotments

AG619 The Green Party recognises the vital role
that allotments have to play, particularly in maximising the potential
for urban food growing. Allotments need to be recognised for their
environmental, health and social benefits. These include: the provision
of fresh affordable food, a reduction in “food miles”, the provision of
open space and wildlife habitats, the reduction of waste through
composting and the absence of food packaging, physical exercise,
educational opportunities, and a contribution to community life. The
Green Party will introduce the following policies:

Local authorities to provide more proactive
support for allotments and to work to cut waiting lists where demand
for allotment plots is high.

New allotment sites to be
created on brownfield land. Where housing estates are being redeveloped
or newly built, allotment site provision should also be made with them.

More public information on the availability of allotments and improved public education on the benefits of allotments.

Improved access and better facilities for disabled people, such as raised beds.

Allotments to be given much greater protection through the planning system.

The removal of restrictions on the selling and bartering of allotment produce, as long as it conforms to food safety standards.

Allotment provision must be tailored to the needs of those who wish to
take them up. This should include creating different sized plots to
suit differing needs, and ensuring provision of sites is as close as
practicable to all who would like them. Opportunities for allotment
sharing should also be allowed.

Section C – Policy Motions

C01. An Annual Target for Tackling Climate Change

Synopsis

The Friends of the Earth Climate Change Bill introduces the concept
of
year-on-year targets for tackling Climate Change. It highlights the
ineffectiveness of distant targets within the political system. As a
Party wishing to take effective action to avoid dangerous Climate
Change, we should adopt the framework of annual targets for emissions
reduction.

Motion

Delete CC110, replace with:
CC110 The Green Party calls for the establishment of annual
targets for global and national greenhouse gas emissions reductions,
and for the
establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms.

Delete CC203, replace with:

CC203 UK emissions in 2003 were 7.5% below the 1990
baseline. We should aim
to steadily reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to 10% of their 1990
levels by 2050. To achieve this, we will target a 6% annual reduction
in UK CO2 emissions, and establish effective mechanisms for getting
back on track should an annual target be missed.

Replace the last two sentences of CC201:

Simple climate models consistent with IPCC findings
suggest that global average emissions need to be reduced by 75-80% by
2050. Following the principle of convergence (see CC244) this requires
UK emissions to be cut by 85-90%.

with:

Simple
climate models consistent with IPCC findings suggest that global
average emissions need to be reduced by 65-80% by 2050. Following the
principle of convergence (see CC244) this requires UK emissions to be
cut by 80-90%.

C02. Introduce Tradeable Quotas for Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Synopsis

This motion implements the principle of contraction and convergence
at a sub-national level, by introducing a system of tradable quotas for
carbon
dioxide emissions in the UK. The system outlined is based on that
devised by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Motion

Reorder so that C.4 International Activity comes after C.1 Targets
[This section in International Activity sets out our support for
Contraction and Convergence (C&C) as the basis for international
agreements on emissions reductions and explains the principles of
C&C.].

Delete C.2 Emissions Reductions in the UK and C.3 The Climate Change
Levy and the UK's National Emissions Trading Scheme and replace with:

C.3 Emissions Reductions in the UK.

CC230 The principles of C&C would also provide the basis for
reductions in emissions within the UK, through the introduction of a
system of tradable quotas. This system should cover all emissions of
carbon dioxide produced by
burning of fossil fuels in the UK. On introduction of the system the
total carbon quota would be equivalent to current emission levels, but
would reduce
year on year to meet the targets set out in C.1. Carbon quota would be
needed for all purchases of electricity (if not from a renewable
source),
air flights and direct purchase of fossil fuels including gas, coal,
petrol, diesel and fuel oil. Consideration would be given to also
including long distance train travel. A system for buying and selling
quotas would be established.

CC231 A proportion of the total quota would be distributed free of
charge to all eligible individuals in the UK, with all adults receiving
an equal amount. The remaining quota would be sold to organisations
(public, private
and voluntary) by a system set up by the government.

CC232 In addition to the introduction of quotas there would be a
major programme of investment in energy conservation, energy efficient
appliances, public transport and renewable energy technology, so that
people are able to live within their quotas. This investment would be
achieved through a
programme of public spending and through the revision of technical
standards, such as building regulations and standards for energy
efficiency of
appliances. The details of these measures are set out elsewhere in the
MfSS. See in particular:

AG206 (Agriculture)

LP403 (Building Location)

LP501-506 (Conservation in Buildings)

EC786 (UK Taxation).

EC921 (International Economic Management)

EN500-510 (Energy Conservation)

EN800-807 (Renewables)

EU521-2 (Transport within the EU)

F202 (Forestry)

HO501-2 & 605 (House Building Standards)

TR010 (Transport – Aims)

TR040-049 (Renewable Fuels)

TR063 – 066 (Charges and Taxes)

TR100-102 (School Transport)

TR200 (Public Transport)

TR300 (Personal motorised transport)

TR300 (Freight)

TR430-1 (Shipping)

TR500-3 & 550 (Air Transport)

CC233 Government should institute a national publicity campaign on
the threats from climate change, the need to reduce emissions of carbon
dioxide and other green house gases, and how individuals can play their
part in this.

C03. More Effective Support for Renewable Energy

Synopsis

This motion aims to encourage greater local support for renewable energy projects.

Motion

Renumber the existing CC223 to CC224 and Insert new CC223 section:

CC223
We will publicise the various ways in which measures to reduce
Greenhouse Gas emissions can provide immediate benefits to our quality
of life, our economy and the environment, as well as delivering
long-term benefits by tackling Climate Change.

Renumber existing EN407 to EN408, and insert new EN407 section:

EN407
District Energy Authorities to provide Public Advisory Services,
responsible for maintaining and publicising authoritative information
on all aspects of energy sources, efficiency and conservation measures.

Rewrite the last sentence of EN808 to read Local ownership of wind power, by farmers and cooperatives should be encouraged. Renumber existing
EN809 to EN810, and insert new EN809 section:

EN809
Renewable Energy developers to provide a fund for the local community.
The fund would primarily subsidise the energy bills of local residents
and businesses, on a sliding scale according to proximity, and any
excess would go into community projects of the local Councils’
choosing. Regional Energy Authorities to be responsible for setting the
levels of the funds and subsidies, and managing the distribution.

Insert new EN803 and renumber the existing EN803 and following sections:

EN803
Additional emphasis will be placed on the benefits of renewable energy
projects that demonstrate significant new innovation towards achieving
greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness, particularly those
pioneering under-utilised energy sources such as biomass, wave power,
tidal power and solar power.

C04. Updates and Corrections to Climate Change Policy

Synopsis

The current Climate Change policy needs updating in its referencing
of the
Kyoto Protocol, which has now been ratified. Also a few numerical
assertions
it makes as though they were facts are tendentious or simply wrong.
This motions corrects these problems. It makes no substantive change to
party
policy.

Motion

Minor updates and corrections to Climate Change policy

Change first line from Background (revised mid-2004) to
Background (revised mid-2005).

Change third and fourth sentences of CC005 from

By
COP7 in November 2001 most of the details of the KP were finalised and
by 2004 it had been ratified by all the major industrialised countries
except the USA, Russia and Australia. It commits them to reductions
averaging 5% from a 1990 base by 2010

to

By
COP7 in November 2001 most of the details of the KP were finalised and
by 2004 it had been ratified by all the major industrialised countries
except the USA and Australia. Following Russian ratification it came
into force in February 2005. It commits industrialised countries to
reductions averaging 5% from a 1990 base by 2008-2012.

Change CC012, fourth and fifth sentences, from

In 2003 this absorption fraction dramatically decreased from about 55% to
about 20%. It is still, in July 2004, unknown why this is so.

to

In 2003 this absorption fraction dramatically decreased, though it is still, in June 2005, uncertain why this is so.

Also delete at around 20% from the penultimate sentence.

Extend CC100, which currently reads:

CC100 The Green Party's primary objective is the safeguarding of the
climate, as far as possible, for future decades and generations; or as the UNFCCC puts it, The avoidance of dangerous anthropogenic change to the
climate.

By appending

We support the broad scientific and NGO consensus that has emerged in
the last few years that that means limiting the global mean temperature
rise to 2C above pre-industrial levels

CC201, in some versions of the MfSS reads Simple climate models consistent with IPCC findings suggest that global
average emissions need to be reduced by 75-80% by 2050..
Correct this to be what conference agreed in autumn 2004 Simple climate models consistent with IPCC findings suggest that global average emissions need to be reduced by 75-80% by 2030.

Correct the error in the first sentence of CC202, which currently reads
The UK's commitment under the EU basket agreement reached in
conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol is a reduction in the 6-gas basket
by 15% by 2008-2012" to make it read " The UK's commitment under the EU
basket agreement reached in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol is a
reduction in the 6-gas basket by 12.5% by 2008-2012

C05. Local Communities & Planning

Synopsis

We believe that part of the existing planning policy is vague and
open to many interpretations. This motion aims to clarify the role of
local communities in the planning process, and improve the consistency
of the planning policy regarding renewables.

Motion

Rewrite LP102:

LP102 Planning
decisions should always be made at the most local practical level. The
deemed regional, national or global importance of proposed developments
should be weighed alongside the needs and expressed opinions of the
local communities in the areas in which they are sited.

Delete the last sentence of EN806,Planning approvals and operating consents will be dependent on the plant being built to high standards and on
proposals having demonstrable community support.

C06. Eco-taxes & Tradeable Quotas

Synopsis

This motion amends our policies on eco-taxes to make them compatible with tradable quotas for carbon dioxide emissions.

Motion

Eco-taxes

Replace EC783 with:

The principle way of reducing UK carbon dioxide
emissions from fossil fuels will be through a system of tradable quotas
(see CC230). A resource tax on
fossil fuels may be levied to reflect other environmental impacts of
their production and use.

EC785:
delete:

In the case of fossil fuels, CO2
emissions will be taxed in order to discourage their use and reduce
their effect on climate change. This will be done by basing the level
of taxation on the carbon content of the fuel.

EC786
Add to end:

Energy intensive products imported from countries which
have not entered an international contraction and convergence based
agreement to reduce green
house gas emissions (see C2.), or which are not meeting their
obligations under such an agreement, will be taxed on import to reflect
the green house
gas emissions produced during their manufacture and transport.

C07. UN Index of Human Rights

Synopsis.

In order to reduce the amount of torture, political imprisonment,
disappearances and other human rights abuses worldwide, the Green Party
will call for the world's governments to have their performance on
human rights monitored and published regularly, with a view to bringing
legal and non-violent pressure on the regimes with the very worst human
rights records.

Motion.

Insert Prevention of human rights abuses, conflict prevention and
resolution, at the beginning of IP 320, to read :

IP320 Prevention of human rights abuses, conflict
prevention and resolution, global environmental research and agreements
on the conservation and rational use
of the planet should be the primary roles of the U.N.

Human Rights Index

IP 321 The international community cannot stand
back and allow gross human rights abuses to take place. The emergent
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine promises to legitimise UN
intervention in cases of ethnic cleansing and genocide. However,
military intervention should always be a last resort, as modern wars
inevitably cause death and injury to civilians, and the post conflict
situation may be problematical, as is shown in the case of Iraq.

Therefore the Green Party will press for the use of a United Nations
Index of Human Rights to restrain governments that commit human rights
abuses.

Amendment 2

Amendment 3

Re-write 2nd para of proposed IP321 to read:

Therefore the Green Party will press for the use of a
United Nations Index of Human Rights to monitor governments that commit
human rights abuses and to provide an explicit basis for seeking to
restrain such regimes.

IP322 All governments will have their human rights
record continuously assessed by a UN agency set up for that purpose.
A scale measuring several indices of human rights, which will be
finalised by agreement at the UN level, but will be centred on the
following

the use of torture,

scale of disappearances,

use of the death penalty,

denial of free speech,

women's rights,

political rights,

abuse of political prisoners,

denial of free movement,

child rights,

religious freedom,

fair trial,

minority rights.

A score reflecting their performance will be allocated to each state on an annual basis.

Amendment 4

Re-write the second sentence of the proposed IP322 to read:

A scale will be established measuring several
indicators of human rights performance. The scale will be finalised by
agreement at the UN level, but will be centred on the following abuses:

IP323 Once the Index is installed, Governments with
the worst record of human rights as measured on this Index will be
referred to the International Court of Justice or the International
Criminal Court. If the Court finds that their human rights performance
falls below set limits, the regimes will be given time and assistance
to improve their record. In the event of non-compliance, the matter
will return to the Court, and if found at fault, the regime will suffer
penalties in terms of their privileges in the fields of finance,
diplomacy, transport and trade. The severity of the penalties will
increase as their human rights performance deteriorates, and decrease
as their human rights performance improves. The penalties will be
targeted to hurt the ruling elite rather than the general population.

Amendment 6

In the proposed IP323, replace the words set limits with accepted legal standards.

Amendment 7

IP324 At the same time, countries lying just above
the level at which legal action will be taken will be offered help and
advice to improve their human rights performance.

Amendment 8

Move PD511 to what is currently IP325 (or IP321 if this motion is
not passed) and renumber. IP325 and IP326 would therefore read:

IP325 The current structure of the UN Security
Council, with permanent seats for France, the UK, the US, Russia and
China, is undemocratic and unworkable due to the right of veto. All
permanent seats on the UN Security Council should be abolished, all
nations should take a seat in turn, continents should be represented in
proportion to their populations, and decisions should be made by a 2/3
majority. In the absence of this reform, we would accept a mandate
given by a 2/3 majority of the General Assembly and by the relevant
regional organisation of the UN.

IP326 Increased European and Middle East support for the UN should
be used to mitigate the effects of USA's dominance and fluctuating
funding.

Amendment 9

Insert at the end of PD510 …or the curtailing of extreme human rights abuses, as indicated by the UN Index of Human Rights described in IP321-4, so that it reads:

…While recognising that the old concept of sovereignty
and the nation state has its limits and problems, erosion of this
principle, however, carries the danger of legitimising international
intervention, which is neither invited nor strictly defensive. Any
erosion of national sovereignty within the UN Charter must therefore be
on very limited and closely controlled criteria such as the prevention
of genocide or the curtailing of extreme human rights abuses (as
indicated by the UN Index of Human Rights described in IP321-4).

C08. Anti-social Behaviour Orders

Synopsis

This motion sets out a position from which the Green Party can
articulate its qualified support for anti-social behaviour orders.

Motion

Conference notes that:

The basic institutions of Green justice should be community-based and relatively informal in nature. (CJ112)

Retributive sentencing is ineffective in reducing crime. (CJ113)

Offenders should be integrated into the community rather than outlawed. (CJ204)

Current non-custodial sentences such as Community Service and Probation
should continue to be used with the aim of reducing the use of
detention. (CJ343)

A strong legal base will make it both
easier and more desirable to establish community-based and regional
forums for the settlement of environmental disputes and for preventing
environmental harm by means of voluntary agreement. (CJ351)

The just implementation of anti-social behaviour orders is consistent
with the above principles established in the Manifesto for a
Sustainable Society. In particular, the Asbo does in principle require
greater participation of the community in determining sanctions on
trouble-makers; could forestall the need for custodial sentencing by
tackling both the causes of crime and the fear of crime; does provide
for meaningful measures to be taken upon environmental harm and their
perpetrators; and does not dispense with the use of the criminal court
as the ultimate arbiter.

Amendment 1

Delete 6 and replace with

The current use of ASBOs does not address the
underlying causes of the behaviour it seeks to control, which arises
out of inadequate policing and insufficient resources being devoted to
areas of deprivation, and in particular a failure to cater for young
people and other minorities. Asbos also offend against the principle
that the criminal law should apply equally to all.

(Asbos are now frequently breached and the problem of enforcement
remains, and in fact leads to an increased use of custody. They are
also inappropriately used against groups such as protestors and
prostitutes.)

However there is a need in exceptional cases for additional controls
beyond the existing criminal law to deal with the behaviour of some
people. We therefore accept there will be in certain circumstances a
need for a civil injunction (Civil Law Injunction Programs - CLIPS)to
be taken out on behalf of individuals or the local community against a
persistent offender, and that will be issued and enforced by a Crown
Court judge.

The
responsible use of Asbos and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts can play a
meaningful role in combating crime, the fear of crime, and anti-social
behaviour in particular. The new powers which Asbos and related
instruments afford the community, police and judiciary must be used
wisely in order to ensure that the correct balance between the rights
of the victim and the rights of the perpetrator is struck.

Amendment 2

Amend B as follows -

Replace Asbos with CLIPS

Delete and anti-social behaviour in particular. The new powers which Asbos and replace with
The new powers which these orders
So that B which reads -

The
responsible use of Asbos and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts can play a
meaningful role in combating crime and anti-social behaviour in
particular. The new powers which Asbos and related instruments afford
the community must be used wisely .........etc etc

will now read

The
responsible use of CLIPS and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts can play a
meaningful role in combating crime. The new powers which these orders
and related instruments afford the community must be used wisely
.........etc etc

C09. Health

Synopsis

The rationale for this motion is that Primary Care Trusts now have
the powers of the former Local Health Authorities and Family
Practitioner Committees. The internal market as described here and GP
Fundholding no longer exist.

Motion

In existing

H321 To promote decentralisation and accountability,
District Health
Authorities and Family Practitioner Committees will be merged as
unified
Local Health Authorities. Health Authorities will be supervised by, and
accountable to, elected Local Government. Co-operation between Health
Authorities to improve services will be encouraged. The role of
Community Health Councils as users' advocates will be developed to
provide greater
assistance to individuals in difficulties or disputes with the health
services. Legislation will be introduced to allow individuals access to
their medical records.

Replace District Health Authorities and Family Practitioner Committees will
be merged as unified Local Health Authorities. Health Authorities with Primary Care Trusts thus the first two sentences are combined into one
which reads To promote decentralisation and accountability, Primary Care
Trusts will be supervised by, and accountable to, elected Local Government.

C10. Common Agricultural & Fisheries Policies

SOC Note – the full Agricultural Policy has also been brought to this Conference by Policy Committee.

Synopsis

MfSS Europe policy calls for abolition / withdrawal from the CAP and
CFP. However, this is not fully supported by the Agriculture or
Fisheries policy and is out of step with NGOs and other European Green
parties. This motion proposes working for radical reform of the CAP and
CFP.

Motion

Replace:

EU540 The Green Party has
consistently opposed the EC/ EU Common Agricultural Policy and Common
Fisheries Policy. Neither meets the criteria of sustainability and
subsidiarity, and both have proved expensive failures in practice. The
CFP in particular has led to over exploitation and even destruction of
fisheries following the removal of national control. We wish to see
both the CAP and CFP abolished.

With:

EU540
The EU Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policies have
failed to meet the criteria of sustainability and subsidiarity and have
proved very expensive in practice. We wish to see radical reform of the
CAP and CFP to protect ecosystems and encourage rural development (see
AG602-4 and FI400). Greater control should be returned to the national
and local level.

In EU541 However, we recognise the need for a framework of European legislation...
Delete: However

In:

EU553 The resources available to these structural funds are
insufficient, and would be more so when the needs of Eastern Europe and
transnational regions partly in and partly outside the EU were taken
into account. We would press for their increase at the expense of other
EU spending which we do not support, such as the CAP.

Replace: such as the CAP with such as some CAP spending

Add and renumber:

AG602
The EU Common Agricultural Policy has failed to meet the criteria of
sustainability or subsidiarity and has proved very expensive in
practice. We will work for continuing radical reform of the CAP to
respect subsidiarity and to protect the environment and rural
livelihoods.

AG603 Subsidies should support farm incomes,
increasing biodiversity and rural economies. Subsidies must not favour
over-production or large mechanised farms over small-scale labour
intensive farms. Decisions on subsidies should be taken at the local,
regional or national level wherever possible.

AG604 The CAP
must respect differences in local circumstances, protect traditional
agriculture and prevent further intensification as a result of EU
enlargement and greater competition.

AG605 The dumping of EU
food surpluses on developing countries' markets must cease and the
costs of storage for food surpluses should be borne by producers

Replace:

FI400
We will work to release Britain from the Common Fisheries Policy of the
EU. In the short term we will take every opportunity to ameliorate its
worst features by the actions detailed in this section.

With:

FI400
We will work for radical reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy to
protect the marine ecosystem, return control of fisheries to the
national and regional level where possible and to provide alternative
employment to fishing communities. In the short term we will take every
opportunity to ameliorate the CFP's worst features by the actions
detailed in this section.

Delete and renumber: IP264 British support for the Common Agricultural Policy should cease.

Amendment 1

Add to the end of new EU540:

We will
work for withdrawal of the UK from the CAP and replacement of the CAP
with systems of state regulation and support that encourage ecological
farming practices and rural development.

Delete parts B, C and F of the original motion

In new AG602, replace:

We
will work for continuing radical reform of the CAP to respect
subsidiarity and to protect the environment and rural livelihoods.

with:

Whilst
pressing for radical reform of the CAP to respect subsidiarity and to
protect the environment and rural livelihoods, we will work for
withdrawal of the UK from the CAP and replacement of the CAP with
systems of state regulation and support that encourage ecological
farming practices and rural development.

C11. Postal Voting

Synopsis

None provided

Motion

The Green Party recognises that a secret ballot is an essential of
democracy. The current system of generalised postal balloting is
incompatible with this. It is open to intimidation, vote buying and
theft of ballot papers. It therefore opposes the general use of postal
and other forms of remote balloting for public elections. Remote voting
should only be available where it is unreasonable to expect the voter
to attend the polling station.

Amendment 1

Delete the last sentence and replace with:

The Green Party will therefore oppose any plans for the
further use of 100% postal voting in elections. We support the
principle of any individual being able to apply for a postal vote but
welcome moves to implement safeguards against the abuse of this opt-in
system.

Section D (organisational motions)

D01. Campaign for Electoral Reform

Synopsis

Now is a fortuitous time, given growing public and media support for
the idea, for the Green Party to prioritise the campaign for electoral
reform. Proportional Representation in Parliamentary elections would
benefit the Green Party considerably.

Motion

Conference calls for the GPEW to prioritise the
campaign for electoral reform with a view to replacing the present
unrepresentative system of ‘First Past the Post’ with a form of
Proportional Representation.

We further call for this form
of PR to the ‘Additional Member’ system, as adopted by the Scottish
Parliament, Germany and New Zealand.

D02. Intellectual Property

Synopsis

Many areas of human activity - health provision, education and
freedom of creativity - are currently hampered by excessive
Intellectual Property Rights which prevent access to and dissemination
of knowledge.

World policy on Intellectual Property is decided by an unaccountable
body that is unduly influenced by lobbyists for powerful rights-holders
who demand ever stronger protection.

As a party committed to social justice, the Green Party should seek
to ensure that intellectual property regimes are designed with the
needs of people, not big business, in mind. If we are to promote the
idea that we hold the earth in common, we should resist the
privatisation of knowledge and culture.

Motion

The Green Party notes with concern:

Drug patents mean that only a tiny fraction of
AIDS sufferers can afford the necessary medicines. Even more
fundamentally, the system of privately-funded medical R&D gives no
incentive to develop treatments for third-world killers such as malaria
when diet pills are more 'marketable'; it leads to suppression of
evidence and to excessive spend on marketing.

Creative
expression requires access to material and the freedom to modify it.
Copyright lasts on average for more than 90 years, and over 95% of the
works in copyright aren't available commercially in any form, but
because of copyright they cannot legally be posted on the web.

The 'harmonisation' of intellectual property laws being promoted at
WIPO brings inappropriate models of ownership to the traditional
knowledge of indigenous peoples, and allows the continuing
appropriation of common goods by large multinationals and others.

As the long free
lunch of over-priced CDs and vinyl-to-CD conversions comes to an end,
recording industries are pursuing intrusive and aggressive policies of
litigation, combined with 'Digital Rights Management' technologies that
threaten the right to make perfectly legal personal copies and lead to
a proliferation of incompatible standards.

On the positive side, the Green Party is pleased to note examples of
projects that pursue models of open collaboration and
information-sharing pioneered by Free/Open Source Software developers:

Open Access publishing is a model of scholarly
communication that allows universal free access to academic papers.
This is vital in the increasingly under-funded libraries of western
universities, but the impact on developing nations will be even more
profound, if the interests of conglomerate publishers and concerns over
copyright can be overcome (note ii)

Many academic disciplines, from life sciences to archaeology, are realising the benefits of pooling their raw data.

The Creative Commons institute has designed a number of licenses
whereby creators of books, music, films, photos and other artwork agree
to let others reproduce or re-combine their work, building the cultural
commons and by-passing the time-consuming process of 'clearing the
rights' to works.

the Simputer and Ndiyo projects showcase
cheap, no-frills computers that could bridge the digital divide in the
developing world. Both run on collaboratively-developed Open Source
Software.

This Conference resolves that the Green Party will:

Call for reduced copyright terms. An
appropriate term would be the original one of fourteen years, with a
further fourteen years dependent on registration. The register, funded
by a small fee, would provide a central registry of copyright works and
ensure that only commercially viable works continued to be protected.

Mandate the Executive to call on the government to support the
Development Agenda being proposed by 14 (chiefly Latin American)
countries at WIPO. The government should also call for greater
transparency at WIPO by lobbying to reverse the recent trend of
excluding civil society NGOs.

As part of (ii), promote alternative compensation schemes that could
help to address the world's most pressing health problems - these involve
public funding for medical R&D in the public interest (note ii).

Promote the Creative Commons. All official documents should be released under a Creative Commons license.

Return the output of publicly-funded academics to the public domain by requiring Open Acess publishing.

Return the product of the licensing fee to the public domain by setting
up by placing all the BBC's material into an archive where it is
freely-downloadable, modifiable and copyable.

End the
anachronistic institution of Crown Copyright, which means that
information paid for with public money is not made freely available to
taxpayers.

D03. Green World

Synopsis

This motion seeks to avoid this year's £14k overspend of Green World
recurring by bringing Green World into the Executive's budget process
and therefore into line with other Green Party expenditure.

SOC Note – changes between the original & new version have been highlighted in revised text.

Motion

Conference notes:

That Green World has an excellent standard of editorial and high quality production standards.

That
Green World has overspent by some £14k in the last year, money which
has been drawn from the Executive's bank account without the Executive
having any control over it.

That it would make sense for
Green World to be part of The Green Party's budget in the same way that
other Green Party expenditure is, but at the moment it is outside it.

In the Constitution of The Green Party, change the current Green World section as listed below:

The Party shall publish Green World at least four times a year to all its members without additional charge.

Green World shall be designed to be suitable for circulation and sale outside the Party.

The aim of Green World shall be to assist the Party to fulfil its constitutional aims.

There shall be an editorial board, consisting of:

Five voting members to be elected at the Annual Conference.

The following non-voting members:

An editor or editorial team.

A regional councillor, nominated by GPRC, whose function on the board
shall be to represent GPRC in order to ensure maximum cohesion between
the operations of Green World and of Regional Council.

A member of the Party Executive, nominated by GPEx, whose function on
the board shall be to represent GPEx in order to ensure maximum
cohesion between the operations of Green World and of the Party
Executive.

Any other members, whom the elected members of the board may co-opt in order to assist the board's work.

The appointment of an editor or editorial team shall continue until the
appointee(s) or the board wish to end the appointment. In either case
three months notice in writing shall be given prior to the date on
which the appointment shall end.

The role of the editorial board shall be to ensure that Green World
fulfils its aim, in accordance with the Standing Orders for the
editorial board.

The elected members of the board shall
appoint an editor or editorial team, by advertising throughout the
Party and arranging appropriate appointing procedures. If an editorial
team is appointed, the board shall nominate one of the team to be
executive editor, who shall be the chief point of contact between the
editorial team and the editorial board.

The editor, or the
editorial team under the direction of the executive editor, shall be
responsible for executing the production of Green World and shall be
accountable to the Party through the editorial board. The board and the
editor/editorial team shall jointly strive to ensure that the contents
of Green World is at all times legal, decent and honest.

The newspaper shall be financed by a proportion of the membership
subscriptions agreed from time to time by the Party Conference and such
income as may be raised from sales and advertising.

to read:

The Party shall publish Green World at least four times a year to all its members without additional charge.

Green World shall be designed to be suitable for circulation inside and outside the Party.

The aim of Green World shall be to assist the Party to fulfil its constitutional aims through the retention of members.

There shall be an editorial board, consisting of:

Five voting members to be elected at the Annual Conference.

The following non-voting members:

An editor or editorial team.

A regional councillor, nominated by GPRC, whose function on the board
shall be to represent GPRC in order to ensure maximum cohesion between
the operations of Green World and of Regional Council.

A member of the Party Executive, nominated by GPEx, whose function on
the board shall be to represent GPEx in order to ensure maximum
cohesion between the operations of Green World and of the Party
Executive.

Any other members, whom the elected members of the board may co-opt in order to assist the board's work.

The appointment of an editor or editorial team shall continue until the
appointee(s) or the board wish to end the appointment. In either case
three months notice in writing shall be given prior to the date on
which the appointment shall end.

The role of the editorial board shall be to ensure that Green World
fulfils its aim, in accordance with the Standing Orders for the
editorial board.

The elected members of the board shall
appoint an editor or editorial team, by advertising throughout the
Party and arranging appropriate appointing procedures. If an editorial
team is appointed, the board shall nominate one of the team to be
executive editor, who shall be the chief point of contact between the
editorial team and the editorial board.

The editor, or the
editorial team under the direction of the executive editor, shall be
responsible for executing the production of Green World and shall be
accountable to the Party through the editorial board. The board and the
editor/editorial team shall jointly strive to ensure that the contents
of Green World is at all times legal, decent and honest.

The newspaper shall be financed by the Party Executive and such income as may be raised from sales and advertising.

D04. Free/Open Source Software

SOC Note - a series of notes and references were included with the original motion but these have not been reproduced in this agenda.

SOC Note – the numbering in the original motion of
the final section was incorrect – this has been corrected and the two
amendments that made reference to the original numbers have been
corrected accordingly.

Synopsis

Free/Open Source Software is community-led, and distributed in a way
that is open to all to use, modify, learn and adapt freely. Free/Open
Source Software is an opportunity to rejuvenate sustainable, diverse
local democracy and economic control; putting people and planet, before
profit. This motion seeks to mandate just that.

Motion

The Green Party stands against monopoly and unfair competition, but
also in favour of fair trade and global justice. In supporting local
development and appropriate technologies, we should look to the open
and democratic use of Free/Open Source Software.

The Green Party notes:

Many countries are adopting
Free/Open Source Software including Brazil, India, Chile and China
because of cost savings and the opportunity to develop local expertise.
Such moves can release local economies in poorer regions from
dependency on Western monopolistic concerns.

Using free / open source software is a crucial way in which those
individuals in poorer regions of the world can be enabled to stay
within their communities and contribute their expertise, rather than moving away and contributing to the 'brain-drain'.
(ref 4)

Free/Open Source Software systems like Linux are often useful for use
with older hardware and thus are a way of revitalising equipment given
to projects in southern countries. Pakistan is supplying its schools
with 50,000 Pentium II machines running Linux at around $100 a machine.
(ref 4)

Control of security issues and other issues of copyright and
access are not controlled by any monopoly but by the user and the
community at large in Free/Open Source Software projects.

OpenOffice, a replacement of Microsoft Office, has been adopted by West
Lothian Police at a saving of at least £300,000. Similar projects could
produce massive savings throughout the state sector.

The GP strongly opposes

Patenting of software ideas. Copyright works
well enough to protect IPR (Intellectual Property Rights). The flag of
IPR must not be used to give more power to rich corporations while
preventing the general use of useful cheap software. The GP notes the
current proposals in the EU that greatly extend the patentability of
software, and the overturning of the parliament's modifications by the
EU Council.

This Conference resolves that the Green Party will:

Promote Free/Open Source Software in government as a cost-saving and anti-monopoly strategy.

Promote Open Source / Free Software as a for computer technology in
southern countries, as it allows those countries to develop their own
intellectual economy.

Encourage our government and the
Assembly to promote Open and free standards in computing as they allow
a level playing field and therefore allow small and localised firms to
compete against large or monopolistic concerns.

Mandate the Executive to campaign
for government to require the exclusive use of Open Standards in their
software use and to release software designed for their own use under
the GPL as part of future contractual arrangements.

Mandate
the Executive to campaign to see local and National government
committed to using Free/Open Source Software and to publicise our
position in the technical press.

Mandates the GP Executive
to campaign on the issue of software patents and to bring publicity to
the issue and the record of our MEPs on this issue.

This conference further notes that this motion does not seek to have a bearing on internal organisational or software issues.

Amendment 2

D05. Change the name of the co- principal speakers to co-leaders.

Synopsis

By seeking a name change from ‘co-principal speakers’ to
‘co-leaders’, this motion is designed both to heighten our public and
media visibility and to reinforce these roles and our practice, without
in any way deviating from our ‘principles’ (sic) as set out in the
Philosophical Basis. We recognise that other models of ‘leadership’ are
possible than the hierarchical.

Motion

To redraft PB 443, and to replace the last sentence:

For this reason the Green Party itself does not have and individual leader.

by

For
this reason the Green Party has 2 co-leaders, with gender balance.
Their roles are seen as spokespeople for the organisation and its
policies, and as such are fully supported by and accountable to the
organisation. Mechanisms are in place to enable frequent rotation of
these roles, and to maximise participation in leadership.

To amend as necessary, all further mention in the constitution of 'principal speakers' to 'co-leaders’.

D06. Postal Vote Registration

Synopsis

None provided.

Preamble

Public concern has been expressed in recent UK
Parliamentary and local elections about the participation, if any,
political parties should be allowed in the administration of postal
votes. In anticipation of any
welcome legislation in this area, this motion commits us to democratic
best practice in one area of growing concern, postal vote registration.

Motion

The GPEW will adhere to the Code of Conduct issued by the
Electoral Commission to political parties, which states that because of
the risk of suspicions that an application may be altered and the risk
of an application form being delayed or lost in transit, the local
Electoral Registration Officer's address should be the preferred
address given for the return of postal vote application
forms.

Our strict adherence means that only the E.R.O.'s address will
appear on a registration form offered to a potential postal voter by
us. We will not knowingly handle such forms once they have been filled
in, or undertake to deliver them to the E.R.O. at the request of a
voter.

Amendment 1

D07. Officers of Local & Regional Parties

Synopsis

Introduces new elements to the constitution to enable the central
administration to be able to comply with the PPERA law and to be able
properly to distribute capitations and otherwise administer the party
nationally.

Motion

Replace Section 5(iv) of the constitution by the following, and renumber the existing subsequent subsections of section 5.

All Local and Regional Parties must register the following officers with Party Office:

One
or more Nominating Officers, with the task of accepting authorisations
from the National Agent to nominate candidates in the local/regional
party area for elections to any level of government. [This person is
commonly, but need not be, the Election Agent for some or all elections
in the local/regional party’s area.]

A Treasurer who has
the legal obligation under the PPERA to maintain proper accounts for
the local/regional party. (S)he must record all donations received and
submit to The Green Party Treasurer quarterly reports of donations,
copies of annual accounts and any other information required to comply
with government legislation.

A coordinator or contact person to receive general information from the national party.

An enquiry recipient whose telephone number can be given to members of the public.

These
people must all be members of The Green Party but need not be members
of the local/regional party of which they are officials. For example
adjacent local parties may share some officers, or regional party
officers may do some of the jobs for a local party. One person may
fulfil more than one role, provided that the PPERA requirement that
there be at least two different individuals is complied with.

When
an officer leaves his/her post for any reason Party Office should be
informed and a replacement appointed within twenty-eight days, to
enable compliance with the PPERA. Failing this in the case of a local
party, Party Office may wind up the local party and in such case local
party capitations will be paid to the regional party unless otherwise
requested by that regional party.

Each local party
shall define its boundaries unambiguously and in a fashion that is
determinable from a postal address, such as by parliamentary
constituency or by local authority boundary; and inform Party Office
thereof. Local party areas so defined shall not overlap, nor shall a
ward be split between two local parties.

When a new local
party is proposed within the area of one or more existing local
parties, or an existing party wishes to split, it/they shall be deemed
to be brought into existence when Party Office is so informed by the
coordinator/contact people of the existing local parties and the
regional coordinator as well as by the registration of the new party’s
or parties’ officers.

In the case of a dispute of any issue
relating to sections (v) and (vi) above within its region the regional
party should in the first instance attempt to resolve it, involving
GPRC and/or DRC as appropriate.

D08. Leader & Deputy Leader

SOC note – see also D09

Synopsis

None provided.

Motion

The current Green Party Constitution states that :

There
shall be two Green Party Principal Speakers ( hereinafter referred to
as Principal Speakers), one man and one woman, elected annually in the
same way as for voting members of the Executive ( see 7ii). For the
purposes of deciding whether an election is to be postal or at
conference the male and female principal speaker posts shall be
regarded as separate posts, and consequently there may sometimes be two
separate elections for principle speaker. The Principal Speakers shall
be non-voting members of the Party Executive.

This motion thus asks that the party recognise the limitations to
its influence via the mass media of the party having two Principal
Speakers, and that the public perception of the party hinders its
attempts to present itself as more than a single issue party at the
national level. That while no new powers are invested in the role of
chief spokespeople, the title of Principal Spokesperson be changed to
'Leader' and 'Deputy Leader', and that in order to maintain the gender
balance which party members rightly see as important, these roles are
never held by persons of the same gender at the same time. That the
elections for these positions be bi-annually as opposed to the annual
elections currently. That these elections be carried out in the same
way that the Principal Speaker elections are carried out. That the
party recognises that this means no concentration of power or
imposition of unnecessary hierarchical structure, but that without the
greater opportunities for public influence this provides the party is
failing in its duty to promote values and polices of environmental and
social justice.
Therefore that paragraph 7. iv) of the Constitution be amended to :

There shall be a Leader and Deputy Leader, one man
and one woman, elected bi-annually in the same way as for voting
members of the Executive ( see 7ii). The Leader and Deputy Leader shall
be non-voting members of the Party Executive.

Amendment 1

Replace There shall be a Leader…non-voting members of the Party ExecutiveThere shall be a Leader and Deputy Leader, one man and one woman,
elected bi-annually in the same way as for voting members of the
Executive (see7ii). All candidates are candidates for both positions,
with the first person elected becoming Leader and the second elected (
after elimination of all candidates of same sex to the Leader) becoming
Deputy Leader. The Leader and Deputy Leader shall be non-voting members
of the Party Executive.

Amend PB 443 of the Philosophical Basis, which reads PB443 We
seek a society in which people are empowered and involved in making the
decisions which affect them. We reject the hierarchical structure of
leaders and followers, and, instead advocate participatory politics.
For this reason the Green Party itself does not have an individual
leader.PB443 We seek a society in which people are empowered and involved
in making the decisions which affect them. We reject the hierarchical
structure of leaders and followers, and, instead advocate participatory
politics. For this reason the Green Party is itself represented and run
in the same way.

Section O – Out of Order Motions

O01. Monetary Reform

Synopsis

The present Monetary Policy section of the MfSS resulted from the
narrow defeat of a motion to strengthen the Party’s policy on money
creation by government, and resulted in the removal of its previously
existing policy on this. This motion aims to remedy this situation.

Motion

In EC512, delete and empowered to create credit at interest rates sufficient only to cover administration when and add comma before channelling.

[Present EC512 reads:

Policies to increase local
investment and the circulation of local finance within the community,
include the development of democratically accountable Community Banks,
designed to encourage local people to invest in local economic activity
{and empowered to create credit at interest rates sufficient only to
cover administration when} channelling local savings into economically
and environmentally sound community enterprises. They should include
removal, where necessary, of national restrictions. We will promote
Credit Unions and skills exchange schemes, along with researching the
best use of local currencies and encouraging their adoption. (see EC662)

]

In EC662, after financial, add profitability and.

Add at end: Since these interest-bearing loans currently
constitute almost the whole of our money supply (i.e. about 97%), this
also gives them power as creditors over the whole nation, including its
government.

[Present EC662 reads:

The current banking system
enables commercial banks and financial institutions to exert an
unacceptably large influence on the economy as a whole. These
commercial banking institutions work to a purely commercial agenda in
which the desirability of making loans is assessed only in terms of its
financial viability to the lenders.

]

Delete EC663 and replace with:

EC663 In the past, the creation of money involved a
struggle between a royal prerogative, and private interests which
sought to usurp it for their own profit and power. The evolution of the
present banking system arose from the fraudulent lending practices of
wealthy goldsmiths, and has been the subject over the last several
centuries of much controversy and legislation. As recently as 1948,
however, as much as about 50% of our money supply - the notes and coins
- was created by government, and spent into circulation, to the benefit
of its citizens, without incurring any debt or interest charges. The
reduction in the use of notes and coins (the ‘fiduciary issue’) and the
failure of governments worldwide to compensate by creating their own
credit-money has been disastrous for the economy of all nations,
creating the growing problems of un-repayable debts at all levels of
society except for a few very rich individuals.

[Present EC663:

The
banking system should be largely brought under democratic control,
preferably at a local level. This will allow the process to work in the
best interests of the community as a whole, rather than principally in
the interests of commercial banks and their shareholders.

]

In EC664, delete the setting of base interest rates and insert

will be responsible to regulate the size of the money
supply by creating any increase needed and passing this to the Treasury
to become part of the Government’s revenue, to be spent into
circulation, or requiring the payment to itself from the Treasury for
cancellation, of any sum required to reduce its size. Commercial banks
will be progressively restricted in their power to create money by
making loans, by re-establishing and progressively increasing their
legally required reserve/asset ratio, while the Bank of England adjusts
the money supply as above.

Delete the final sentence.

[Present EC664 reads:

The Bank of England will
continue to be the institution for the regulation of the national
currency and {the setting of base interest rates}. However, it will not
focus on narrow economic indicators such as the rate of inflation, but
instead will take a broader view on the impact of its decisions on the
economy as a whole. {Final decisions on the setting of base interest
rates will be made by a democratically accountable committee made up of
representatives selected from the different regions of the country.}

]

In EC665, delete: will be empowered to create credit in the same
way that commercial banks currently do, and will be given favourable
conditions for doing so by the central bank. They

[Present EC665 reads:

In order to help bring about
the democratisation of the banking system, and in pursuit of our
policies to support the growth of local economies, a network of local
Community Banks will be established. These will be democratically
accountable non-profit-making trusts, which will be able to provide
low-cost finance both at district and regional levels. Any operating
surplus arising from these Community Banks will be reinvested in their
local communities. Community Banks {will be empowered to create credit
in the same way that commercial banks currently do, and will be given
favourable conditions for doing so by the central bank. They} will also
be able to create their own local currencies, to operate alongside the
national currency, where this is supported by the local community.

]

[EC680 reads:

Using private finance to fund public
services (through schemes such as the "Private Finance Initiative
[PFI]" or the "Public Private Partnership [PPP]") is flawed. It is
primarily aimed at providing services without large costs to taxpayers
in the short-term. However, in the long-term this makes no financial
sense as facilities remain in private hands, rather than being publicly
owned assets, and government funds have to be paid over to private
operators indefinitely. The requirement to provide a profit to private
shareholders also adds to the overall cost to society.

]

Replace EC681, EC682 and EC683 with:

EC681 The government should never have to borrow from
private sources; its spending should be funded by taxation or service
charges, or, as and when required, by the new money created by the Bank
of England and credited to the Treasury. (See EC664.)

[Present para’s read:

EC681 The Green Party is concerned about the effects
of such schemes on the delivery of public services, and on the pay and
conditions of those working within them. Private investment is not a
desirable solution to years of underinvestment in health, education
etc. We believe that public services should be publicly owned in order
to guarantee the level of service required by society, and that other
public social budgets are not left to compensate for the inadequate
treatment of the workforce.

EC682 We therefore oppose such private financing schemes, and call
for public funds (either through taxation or, where necessary, public
borrowing) to be used to build all new hospitals, schools and other
public service infrastructure. If the renegotiation of existing
privatised contracts is impossible, the government should at least aim
to bring all affected facilities back into public ownership as soon as
possible.

EC683 Our opposition does not extend to the buying of goods and
services from suppliers outside the public service organisation itself,
so long as control (i.e. finance, ownership and management) of the
public services themselves remains in the hands of the community rather
than those serving the profit motive.

]

Proposed by Brian Leslie, Molly Scot-Cato, Helen Trask & Donald Lowe

SOC Note – This motion was ruled out of order under
SOCC 9f) – ‘the two year rule’. Policy Committee has advised SOC that
the motion does in fact represent principles that have been rejected by
Conference in the past; the official record of Conference shows that
this occurred in the Autumn 2003 Conference at Lancaster which finished
on 8 September. See SOC report for further information.